Castles of Glass
by SamuShark
Summary: After a year of separation,Finn's love for the flaming ruler still lingers on, refusing to die. Desperate to find the missing fragments of his heart, the hero embarks on a journey to find the imaginary castle he saw in his dream,which he believes has all the answers.With an unspeakable terror out to plunge Ooo into chaos,Finn needs to fend it off to rekindle what is lost.
1. Chapter 1- The Warmth of the Heart

**Author's Note - Let me be honest with you guys, first off, this is my very first fanfic, and to add things off, I'm no veteran writer like John Green or J.K. Rowling. I'm just a newbie who just recently signed up to this amazing site filled with thousands of amazing work you guys posted. At first, I'm really reluctant on posting this fanfic, but for the sake of writing, I'm willing to give it my all just to keep you drawn in. Please leave a review by the end of this chapter, that would be really awesome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the mathematical series Adventure Time and the cover photo. All credits go to the actual creators of this amazing show.**

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><p><strong> Chapter 1 - The Warmth of the Heart<strong>

**He's doing it again.** Jake mumbled as he saw Finn climb up the ladder to his now frequent "alone time" spot, which was the roof.

"Hey Jake. guess what? I've downloaded another copy of Cuppy's Castle!" Beemo said in a somewhat cheerful tone, probably just to cheer him up. "Maybe later Beemo. It's no fun without Finn around." he said as he took a huge bite off the sandwich he just made. "Yeah. he hasn't played me for about a week or so. i kinda miss it." the little robot displayed a sad emoticon on his game screen. "That's it. I can't take this anymore!" Jake threw the sandwich on the floor, frustrated. "Maybe Finn might get over it. Who knows?" Beemo said as he sat down on the coffee table where he sleeps. "Yeah, that's what you said to me last week." the poor dog pouted. "Well then. I'm just hoping Jake." the robot shuffled some cards. "I'm gonna settle this myself. Hmph!" he shuffle towards the ladder and yelled, "Hey Finn! Wanna play with Beemo?" **I hope this works.** he thought. "Jake...not now.." Finn responded weakly.

"Okay then! Now I'm just gonna wait 'till tomorrow to get you down here!" Jake growled, "What the heck is wrong with you?" "Jake... I'm sorry." Finn said with a slight whisper. "Well, that won't make things peachy around here mister!" he crossed his arms.

"I..I..need you to hug me bro. Please.." Finn squeaked. As soon as he heard those words, he finally knew what causes the constant hiatus of their adventuring. "Is this about Flame Princess?" he asked while looking at the entrance to the roof. Sure enough, Finn probably didn't want to talk about it. The concern dog gave out a sigh. "Finn, let's have one of 'em heart to heart talks."

He stretched himself to the roof of the tree fort. "Dude, you should've just used your legs.." the hero gave a light smirk. "Hah! Legs are useless. So anyways Finn, it has been over a year since _that_ happened, and she probably has forgotten about you. Here's one thing I should tell ya to bring your life back. Move on. Find someone who's worth your time." Jake advised as he wrapped his long arm on his shoulder. "We are all destined to be with someone. Just like how I met Lady, that was a month after I broke up with my ex. She probably isn't the one meant for ya." "It's not that easy. Look, I'm trying to forget-" "No, you're probably thinking about her constantly. That would just make things more harder for ya." Jake cutted him off.

"Look, it's gonna rain soon. How about I'll serve up some pancakes. I won't take no for an answer, hehe.." Jake persuaded the depressed lad. "Yeah. That would be a great idea." Finn quickly went down the ladder towards the kitchen.

** He hasn't changed a bit. **Jake gave out a smile and eagerly stretched himself to the tree fort. Soon enough, Beemo sprang out of his bed and greeted Finn, "who wants to play video games?" the cheerful robot danced around him. "I do. What's new Beemo?" Finn asked, wearing that goofy smile on his face. "Well, it's this new visual novel called Frost and Fire." Finn's expression suddenly changed from eager to plain. "I knew it! He hates those kinds of games!" Jake teased the poor robot while he's working on the bacon pancakes on the kitchen. "n-no. It's great. really...I'll just be in my room." he walked out with some tears running down his face. "Was it something I said?"

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><p><strong>Marceline's P.O.V - <strong> I was just doing my daily jam with my bass until I received a call from the most unlikely person: Jake. "Marceline?" he asked. "Yeah. 'sup Jake? Want me to suck your blood tonight?" I said, in means of trying to scare the poor guy. "Marcy! This is serious. It's about Finn." "What about him?" "He's...not working anymore!" my eyes widened as he said those words. **This must be some prank call. Please let it be just some stupid prank call.. **I thought...well, my heart thought. I quickly hung up and flew towards the tree fort without an umbrella, thus, making me look like some kind of flying old hag. **Great. you're falling for some bad joke, and now look at you, your hair's a mess!** I reminded myself, but I've suddenly gotten a feeling that draws me in there, like it's my job to help the poor guy or something.

As soon as I arrived, I quickly busted though the door. "Where's Finn?" I asked Jake wearing a scared look on his puppy dog face, and I'll have to admit, it was kinda funny. "He's in his room." I hurriedly went in. Turns out that he was fine, but he looked really sad, like we was about to cry.

"Finn!" I quickly hugged him, since I've kinda forgotten how to express my relief in words. "M-Marcy? What brings you here?" He asked with his cheeks flustered. Man.. did I really squeezed him that hard? "I've gotten a call from Jake. He said you've stopped working. you look fine though." I smirked.

"Oh... Thanks for worrying." he lain down on his unkept bed with his arms folded. "Well, I stand corrected. you looked depressed." I said as I looked around his room filled with candles and pictures of Flame Princess on the walls. "Me? hah! no way Marcy! I'm fine! watch.." he picked up his red sword and swung it badly. Just like some five year old learning how to play baseball. I gave out a laugh, since it seems so obvious that he's probably trying to make me laugh as always. "See?...don't I look so...cool?" he suddenly wept. **Okay, now I'm lost for words. **

"Finn, I know something's bothering you. Tell me everything that's keeping you from being happy. Maybe I can help." With a reluctant look on his face, he suddenly asked me a different question. "Since when did you gotten so concerned of me?" Finn gave out a shy smile. I blushed a little. "Just do it you twit!" He told me the whole story about the letters, and how Simon and Flame Princess fought, and the Cosmic Owl. Just when I'm about to get confused, he then came straight to the point, he and Flame Princess broke up over a year ago. I gave out a sigh. "Dude, you remind me of Ash. You were the one who wrote those mean stuff about her..." he started to cry, again. "I'm not finished! But the bright side is that you've told her the truth, that's all that matters. It shows how warm your heart is.." I poked his chest. "But... I thought you've lost your moral code?" "Whatever Finn." I began to float outside of the room. "Marcy... what made you come so fast? Jake's obviously pulling your strings." he said while wiping the tears off his eyes with a tissue. "Because I care about you...Finn." I briskly went off, embarrassed. Jake looked at me with a curious look. "What's going on Marceline?" "D-Don't ask..."

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><p>As Marceline left the fort abruptly, Jake knew what caused her to leave so quickly. <strong>Maybe Finn tries to ask Marcy on a date? <strong>Jake shook his head at the thought, knowing that the hopeless romantic and the 1000+ year old vampire won't get together so easily.

"Oh Finn." he walked towards the room, smiling. "Dude, if you have some dibs with Marcy, why didn't you just tell me!" the cheerful dog grinned. "Huh? Me liking Marcy? Since when?" he blushed. "So you didn't ask her out?" "Why would I do that? Marcy's like our bro, it would be very awkward if I like her that way." he grinned. "Okay then. For a second there, I thought you were following my advice. Who knows? It might've been her all along." **  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Well, that concludes the first Chapter. I wonder how things will turn out? Please give me some feedback! <strong>


	2. Chapter 2 - Croak Dreams

**Author's Note - I would like to thank fellow authors Ooobserver and Hazelnut Theory for the awesome reviews. You guys are amazing. By the way, this is actually where the actual story begins, so It's probably gonna be longer than the last one. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave some feedback.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 - Croak Dreams<strong>

As the concealed sun sets behind the dark storm clouds, the two heroes peered through the window in a melancholic setting. "Dude, we should get Beemo before he flies away." Jake pointed at the drenched robot, having a hard time pulling his new kite. If it weren't for the plastic waterproof casing he's wearing, he would've blown a large fuse. Literally.

"Yeah, we should. It's kinda funny, he's out there risking his life trying to have some fun while we're staying inside boring ourselves to death." Finn said was he continued to stare off the distance. "Dude, it's kinda embarrassing, if you it that way." the flushed dog said as he walked towards the front door. "Could I come?" the hero asked as he stood up reaching for his rain coat. "Don't strain yourself buddy. I'll get him. All you need is some proper rest after all that wallowing yesterday." he gave out a warm smile as he slammed the door shut. **Rest, eh? I guess a little nap would work for me.. **the hero thought.

He slowly walked through the kitchen to snag some food before dozing off. As he opened the cold freezer, he saw some of Jake's soy milk he stashed. **I hope Jake won't mind. **he gave out a small giggle of excitement as he uncapped the carton. He quickly drank the creamy liquid, just in case Jake spots him. The hero's expression turned from anxious, to grossed out. He quickly threw the box on the floor and gagged, probably grossed out of the foreign taste the drink offers him. **Oh Glob! Did I just drink expired milk or something? **He quickly glanced at the box to find himself a disturbing figure crouching under the table.

Finn flipped in terror as he quickly grabbed the box and threw it, aiming at the shadowy figure. "Ghost! Ghost!" he squealed like a baby. It moved closer,and closer... until it barely touched the hero's face. Finn was speechless, all he wanted to do was call for help, but he can't. The seemingly fearless hero of Ooo was now paralyzed in fear. After what seemed like hours, the figure poked the hero's forehead knocking him unconscious.

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><p>"What...happened?" Finn mumbled as he gained consciousness at a different location: a cold, gray wasteland. <strong>Am I dead? <strong>He thought,as he noticed the similarities of the place in contrast with the Land of the Dead.

**If you have something you regret, would you take the chance to make things right? **a mysterious, disembodied voice asked him. The hero gave out a sigh. "I would, and I would do anything for that opportunity. It's just...impossible. " he replied in a melancholic tone. **Well then, I will give you that chance for a brief period. **That statement made Finn smile a little, "Sounds like some scam." Finn, now 16 years old, is now mature enough not to be gullible to any lie, especially not to give in to any scam.

**Scam? I'm not going to bestow that chance so easily. **the voice stated as the hero slowly spotted a crystal like structure on the distance. Captivated, he slowly got up and walked towards the architectural wonder. **Amazing, isn't it? **the voice asked. "Of course it is." Finn briefly answered. "But I have no idea what it is." he added. **That's where you'll find that chance.**

The hero, desperate to make things right with Flame Princess, ran towards the peculiar structure with eyes full of hope. The more he ran, the more distant the castle went, making him eventually exhausted. Finn, discouraged, can't do anything but waste his tears. "Why can't I just let go..?"

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><p>"Finn! Finn! Stay with me man!" Jake shook Finn's shoulders rapidly. "Wha? Jake?" Finn asked as he became a tad bit dizzy of his older brother's "concern" move."Finn!" He quickly hugged him tight, just like a python killing it's prey. "D-dude! Let...go.." The hero said as he struggled to breathe. "Oh, sorry dude." Jake apologized as he loosened his grip. "How long was I out anyway?.." "Dude, I've been shaking you for about an hour!" the magic dog explained. "I see..." Finn smiled.<p>

As the hero touched his right cheek, he felt those half dried tears sticking to his fingers. "By the way dude, sorry for drinking your soy milk. That thing tastes horrible." he faked a chuckle, since that factor alone made him remember the shadowy figure that knocked him out. "Hmm? what soy milk? Maybe I must've forgotten about it..." the dog gave a perplexed look,while rubbing his soft, flexible face. **I must've been dreaming all along. **Finn thought as he placed his thumb below his lip.

"Dude, do you know any glass castles around Ooo?" "Nope. Why? And what kind of dumbo would make a castle out of glass?" Jake laughed at the strange thought. "It may seem dumb, but I've saw it in one of those croak dreams." As Finn uttered those words, Jake's eyes widened in shock. "The one with the Cosmic Owl in it?" he asked, curiously. "N-no, he wasn't there. But I think he's decided to speak to me, somehow..." Finn's words suddenly trailed off. "Then? What did he say? Tell me!" Jake leaned closer to him. ""I will give you the chance to make things right." blah,blah,blah. Something like that." he then gently pushed the curious dog away from him.

"So, what does the castle have to do with it?" Jake leaned closer. "W-well, maybe it has the answers to all of my problems." "Ah. That explains it." Jake backed off. "You know what it means?" Finn raised a brow. "Uh..No. I've got nothin'." he grinned nervously. "Well dude, I can't blame ya for not knowing something you're clearly clueless about." Finn gently patted him in the head. The mentally exhausted dog gave a loud yawn. "Thanks for the understanding, brotha.." **Oh boy...that feels good. **Jake thought as he slowly dozed off in Finn's lap. "We'll try to find the answers..tomorrow..."

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><p><strong>Flame Princess's P.O.V. - <strong>I haven't managed to get enough shut eye lately.

Sure, the kingdom's doing well without me watching. But I just can't just leave my duty as the ruler and do whatever I wanted, can I? *Sigh* what am I thinking? I'm probably lying to myself again. To be honest, I'm actually making myself miserable. "Seems like you're being lazy today!" Dad said as he peered through the lantern. "Shut up, Dad." I said plainly as I continued to stare off the distance. I felt a little spark on my chest and gently placed my palm on it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. **Something's clearly missing here. **I thought. I shook my head and quickly went towards my room. "Ugh. What are you thinking FP? He probably loves someone else now..." I mumbled on the way, and Dad must've heard it.

"Eh? Another one of your "self conversations"?" he said with a glint of concern in his face. I ignored him and slammed the door shut. As I sat on the side of my warm bed, I could clearly hear the words, "was it something I said?" through the thick craggy walls. I gave a little scoff to hide my guilt and hugged myself, "I miss it...that warmth." I must've been very lonely nowadays. No, not that I lack friends, in fact, I'm actually pretty popular. Princesses like Lumpy Space Princess actually come here often for some "break-up" advice. *Sigh* **Maybe I am famous for being miserable..**

I quickly glanced at the lampshade next to me and spotted something flat and shimmering lying on the top. It was a photo. Curious, I picked it up, amazed on how it failed to burn so easily. It was a picture of me and Finn at our last date, which was over a year ago. I realized that I was beginning to tear up, causing the photo to have holes due to how hot my tears are. To suppress the memory, I flipped the photo to find myself a note written at the back. **"We will always be together."**

I remembered that day so vividly. It was at the beach, were we sat by the seaside talking about random stuff while I asked him a random question, "Finn?" "Yea, Milady?" I slowly leaned on his shoulder, (with tin foil covered,of course.) which made him blush a little. "What would you do if...I've suddenly disappeared?" "Huh? What's with that question?" he smirked. "J-just...answer it." "Well, if you'd disappeared, I'll look everywhere for you, and if I die before finding you, that would be the biggest regret I've made in my entire life."

Those words...actually gave me a purpose to live. No one wants me, since a touch of my skin would kill someone, or tear down cities. I've thought of myself as a destroyer. "Evil" by Dad. But Finn? he doesn't care if he dies hugging me, In fact... he's the only person who cared about me this much...and to that, I am grateful. "H-how corny.." I looked at the balcony to find the north star on the black sky. "Please.. if you could hear me... please repress these feelings.." I clenched my chest.

It's funny, I outlawed deceit in my kingdom, but I'm no different than the average liar. I lied to myself about forgetting. How could I forget the man that treated me like an actual princess? Truth be told... I'm still in love with Finn.

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><p><strong>Well, I suppose that concludes the second chapter. Will Finn and Jake find the meaning behind the mysterious castle? Find out when I update it. Thank you and please, tell me what you guys think.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3 - Persuit

**Author's Note- Hey guys, so I finally updated the story with the third chapter, but... since It's almost our school's annual examination, I'm probably going to update it every other day, something like that. Probably. You'll never know. By the way, This Chapter introduces a new character connected to the Castle's Origin. Please Enjoy, again and also, please give me more feedback on my writing style. Peace!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3 - Pursuit<strong>

As the storm refused to die through the night, the deathly cold winds kept Finn from sleeping soundly.

"Great, now I'll have to wear myself out." the hero said as he hopped out of the bed that failed to provide him enough warmth. He peered through the window again, checking if the storm has slowed down, but to his frustration, it didn't. The young lad gave out a small sigh of annoyance. "When will it ever end?" He muttered while staring off the distance. **Looks like we can't go kick evil's butts today..** he thought while playing with the extra dagger he kept in his pocket, just in case he gets pounced on in his sleep.

As his eyes got tired of gazing through nothing but cold mist and mountains, something caught his attention. A faint shimmer of what looks like glass, polished by the rain. It was the castle in his dreams.

The desperate young hero quickly shook Jake, in an attempt to awaken him in his slumber. "Jake! Jake! It's here! Hurry!" Finn screamed in excitement. "Ugh...What, Finn?.. everyone knows Santa Claus isn't real..." The tired dog mumbled, half asleep. "Dude!" he shook him again. Knowing that simply just shaking him won't wake him up, he grabbed some pepper in his pocket and rubbed it in between his huge, black nose. Shortly, the magic dog was awakened by his own sneeze. "Huh? Finn! I was in the middle of a awesome dream! And you ruined it!" Jake said in frustration. "Sorry dude, I just...really need you to look at the window, just for a sec.." the hero requested with a little guilt in his eyes. The dog, full of understanding in his heart, got up and scurried to the window.

"I see nothin' but mist." Jake doodled through the moist glass. "Look harder! It's beyond the mountains! Look!" As the hero moved the dog's head to the direction to where the castle's supposed be, his face expressed an exotic blend of disdain and bewilderment. "Then again, I still see nothin. I'm going back to bed." Jake slithered back to his warm "nest". "B-but...it's.." **Oh, forget it, Finn. You're just seeing things again. **he thought to himself. Finn began to doubt the existence of the peculiar structure.

**Maybe it was just one of 'em normal dreams I kept having.** The hero leaned on the side of his bed, staring through the ceiling. "Maybe I am just chasing an impossible dream." he smiled at the thought, making him look foolish enough not to spot the difference between actual reality and the subconscious one. He raised his right hand and closed his eyes and uttered these words, "Princess, I will reach you. And I will never give up no matter what the cost..."

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><p>In the midst of the flashing lightning and searing raindrops, a young mage was practicing her magic.<p>

"Elsa, it's getting stronger. Get inside before you catch a cold." An aged man said as he opened the doors of a seemingly secluded hut near the Ice Kingdom. "Just another minute, dad. I've done this a few times anyway." the girl pleaded. "Fine. Remember, don't just splay your magic all over the place. It'll might attract people, or worse.." the old man trailed off. "I know dad. Don't worry, you can trust me, right?" she smiled. The old man couldn't utter anything but a sigh. "Yeah. 50%." he smirked as he slammed the door shut.

**Jeez. Why can't he just trust me as a daughter? It's not like I'm some kind of idiot. **She pouted. The white haired lass quickly spotted the perfect spot to train herself in. The frosted forest just in front of her backyard. **I guess, a little training by the bridge sounds good. **She gave out a smile of excitement and ran towards the entrance of the seemingly untouched group of greenery. "Wow, this is amazing." She quickly shifted her gaze from left to right, checking if anyone's spying on her.

**I guess the coast is clear.** she thought as she slowly crept through the wet snow below her. Elsa may be reckless, but the young mage is anything but dumb. "Who's there?" She quickly responded to the slight rustling of the frosted bushes. "Oh, it's just a squirrel." she scoffed for a sec, laughing at the point of barely freezing the poor thing. "I guess I shouldn't use this thing more often." She muttered as she looked at her palms filled with magic runes orbiting around it. "Okay then. It's time to kill some trolls."

She ran towards the tattered structure and looked below the bridge, to find no creature lurking under it. "Ah, phuwey!" She threw the magic snowball she made out of frustration. She sat there and waited, passing the time by staring at the completely dark clouds above her. "Man..Now I just wanna freeze up the sun. Why does everything goes the opposite way of what I want?" she muttered.

"You..." A voice called out. "Hm? me?" the perplexed mage pointed at herself. As she turned to her left, she saw a fairly attractive young man wielding a lantern on his right. "You shouldn't be here... Run before _he_ gets here!" he quickly pulled her arm and gently pushed her aside. "E-excuse me? I think I have the right to know what's going on?" "Go!" the young man yelled. As she quickly glanced at the other side of the bridge, the frosted trees suddenly caught on a blaze of black fire. "Don't look back." the man instructed her. "You are just encouraging him. Now go!" he pushed her.

**What's his problem?** the clueless lass teared up a little, being the sensitive person she is. As she ran through the thick, white forest, the flames seem to follow her around, as if it's goal of creation was to _kill_ her. "You shall burn!" a distorted voice passed through her ears. "What did I do to you!?" she replied with a yell. **You are just encouraging him.** The young mage rubbed the sweat off her brow and before she knew it, tripped over a huge root uncovered by the melting frost. Being a curious child, she looked back.

Her gaze was welcomed by a malevolent figure wielding what looks like a set of bow and arrows. Terrified, she briskly scuttled down the snow as the figure walked closer to her. "Freeze!... Freeze!" she threatened as she tried to conjure up an offensive spell. The figure, concealed by the flames, loaded an arrow aiming at a different direction. Confused for a moment, she quickly realized where it's aiming at. Her house.

**Oh glob! Dad's in there!** Concerned for her fathers safety, the young lass had no other choice but to fight back."Freeze!" She bellowed. The runes on her left palm shone a luster glow as a blue light consumed her hand like a burning torch. The seemingly unstoppable flames where extinguished by layers of magic ice, and the figure was somehow caught in Elsa's offensive trap. After what seems like hours of excruciating pain, the exhausted mage has gone unconscious.

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><p>"Hmn?...what was I doing again?" Elsa awoke from a deep slumber, surrounded by several spikes of ice consuming the burnt forest. As she saw her surroundings, she immediately remembered the threat that attempted to kill her and her father. <strong>Dad...oh glob! I've gotta check up on him! <strong>her heart whispered to her thoughts. She rushed through the crystal spikes created by her hand and finally,arrived at the place she called once called home.

But she wasn't welcomed by a frustrated and worried father, but a more darker and grim scene that tore her young heart apart.

The house was no more. It was reduced into a crackling wooden mess with dark ash being carried away by the ominous wind.

The shocked girl knelt, weakened by what she just saw. With bitter tears running down her pale cheeks, she uttered some words coming straight from her heart. "I didn't even say goodbye.." She covered her face with her hands, as she wept through the raging snowstorm.

Hours after, she quickly spotted the necklace her dad once wears amongst the ashes. With emotion erased from her eyes, she quickly picked the shimmering object up, and wrapped it around her fist. "Dad. I know, you don't trust me at all...but... I swear to you..." She trailed off as rubbed the tears off her eyes. "That I'm going to avenge you...then I'll finally gain ... your trust!..."

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><p><strong> Well, that ended sadly. Of course, I'll have to add some mix of drama and action for once in a while. I hope you guys loved this chapter, and I'm waiting to be inspired by you guys again. You guys must've been asking yourselves, "What connection does Elsa have with the croak dream?" Well, The answer will probably be lying in the future chapters of the story. Please tune in, and don't forget to review! <strong>


	4. Chapter 4 - Mission

**First of all, I would like to apologize for not updating in like, forever. Look, there was some calamity in our area, and guess what? The power was cut off for almost a week, and just when I was about to go insane? Boom, it's back. So anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and I'm sure it's going to be extra good, just to make you guys not waste your eyes scanning at some random entry. Oh, please, I really need your feedback. Thank you!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4 – Mission<strong>

"All done!" Finn suddenly perked cheerfully after he had accomplished the record of finishing that super thick grimore that he found at the Library.

"Dude, Keep it down a little, can ya? This is the best part…" Jake grumbled as he slowly flipped the pages of the romance novel he's reading. "Sorry dude. It's just so tiring reading all these books at once!" He glanced at the pile of books he snagged clattered at the reading table. "So? Have you found the answer yet?" The dog whispered. "Nope." The hero plainly scratched his scalp. "What!? Aren't we wasting away in this dump just to find out what's with that stupid castle of yours?" Jake exclaimed, raising his voice. As the dog's loud barks echoed through the hollow, stuffy room, cold sweat ran from Finn's face as he heard the pitter patter of slow footsteps moving towards the source of the blabbering.

"Darn it, Jake! You're too loud!" Finn slapped the dog's back, which caused the poor thing to jerk in pain. "What's the matter boys? Can't keep it down for reading's sake?" It was Turtle Princess, who scolded with her hoarse, masculine voice. "Oh glob! S-sorry TP, it's just that…" "No more excuses." The turtle quickly pushed the two heroes out of her silent sanctuary. "Don't come back until you've learned how to shut your mouths!" She slammed the door shut, leaving the two brothers flat on the ground.

"What's her problem? It's not like we're a bunch of gangsters rapping about or anything…" Jake threw the rock at his side out of frustration. "Calm down dude. Well, do you know what gives more info than any old book?" the hero asked.

"What's with all the random questions? Of course, the internet's the source of all information!" the dog answered with creases forming on his crinkly, bull dog face. "No, old people. Duuh. They've actually experienced all the junk written in books. Heck, I think they're the ones who wrote them." The hero smiled with a glimmer of encouragement glowing on his youthful face. "Yeah…Yeah! They're tons of old geezers around Ooo!" The dog chuckled as he wriggled his noodle arms in the air. "So? We're will we start?"

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><p>"Dude, I think we shouldn't mess around with Marcy today." Jake's teeth chattered, not because of his previous fear of vampires, but due to the cold temperature lingering around the area.<p>

"Relax. Marcy's a thousand years old! I bet she's even better than a book." Finn quickly rushed to the door and knocked it eagerly. "Marcy? It's me, Finn. Please let us in!" Sure enough, the vampire answered his call and opened the door, wearing her old pair of jammies.

"'Sup Finn, Jake. What brings you guys here? Do you know you guys are in the middle of my morning sleep?" Marceline asked while rubbing her teary eyes. "Well, we're asking all the old geezers if they knew something about some castle. Well… since you're a thousand years old…"

The vampire's cheeks flushed red out of embarrassment. "D-do I look like some old hag to you? Finn, you MORON!" the offended vampire slapped the hero's cheeks and slammed the door shut. "Dude, I think the term "old geezer" isn't the best term to describe Marcy." Jake advised.

"Y-yeah, you're right. Damn. That hurts." The hero felt his cheeks light up by the impact. "Dude, let's just go home." The dog quickly grabbed his arm. "No way dude. This maybe our last chance!" Finn knocked the door vigorously. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Dude! You'll piss her off big time!" Jake attempted to stop the young lad from doing the seemingly, noisy action. "Don't worry, I'll lay it low on the insults." The hero grinned.

Before he could even knock, door slowly creaked open as his gaze was welcomed by Marceline, wearing a sleek, black gown. "Hey Finn. Come in." **Does _this_ look old to you, Finn? **The vampire giggled. **Well, I'm kinda bored with all the napping. I guess I should mess up his brain for a bit. **"Um, Yeah. Sorry about the-" "It's cool. But if you say that to my face again… I'll rip you to shreds. Got it?" She grinned.

"Y-yes Marcy." The hero bowed. "So, what are you guys supposed to ask me? hm?" Marceline sat on her couch and picked up the strawberry lying on her lap. "W-well-""Oh, don't tell me, how old am I and how ugly do I look?" She winked. "Uh… No. that's not the question." Finn slowly stepped out of the doorway, creeped out of how the vampire's acting. "What? You're leaving so soon? How sad~ Please, stay for a while and play with me." She frowned as she twisted her black locks.

"Uh, Marcy, you're creeping me out. Please stop messing with my brain." Finn politely asked as his cheeks flustered. "Fine! Whatever." The annoyed vampire looked away. "Okay. Do you know any glass castles around Ooo?" Finn finally popped the question. "Hm? Glass Castle? Nope. Never heard of one. Except for those figurines my mom makes." She plainly stated. "Oh, okay. Well then… I'll see you soon." Finn gave out a crooked smile and slowly exited the house. As soon as he left, Marceline face palmed to express her disdain. **Am I really ****_that_**** old?**

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><p>"Fascinating…" Princess Bubblegum muttered as she stared through the icy blue skies from her bedroom window. "This must me some kind of peculiar chemical reaction. Maybe I should lay it low on the constant experiments…"<p>

The pink princess thought as she twirled the edges of her locks out of boredom. "Of course, In the end, I wouldn't be able to control myself…" She took a piece of her hair and started chewing on it, probably to restore her lost bio mass. "Hmn. Maybe I should call in Finn and Jake? It's kinda boring here after all."

As she quickly dialed Finn's number on her cellphone, she had second thoughts on pressing the digits. **Maybe they're in the middle of a quest or something…** As those thoughts raced through her head, she reluctantly placed the device back to her pocket and gave out a sigh. "Who am I kidding? They're all probably working their butts off while I'm doing absolutely nothing for the first time."

The bored princess sat on her office chair and slowly poked the sample of zombie flesh she stashed after the outbreak. "Princess Bubblegum? Finn and Jake are here to see you." Peppermint Butler informed as he gently shook the princess, who looked like being stuck in a trance. "Oh, great. (Finally, they came.) Send them in."

Shortly, the two heroes busted in the room, looking pretty much exhausted. "Princess!..." Finn trailed away as he panted. "Finn? I was supposed to call you guys." "No…time for that…Just please answer my simple question…" The hero stated his business. The princess couldn't respond to that but to give out a small sigh. "Okay, what is it, Finn?" Almost immediately, the hero replied. "Do you know…Any glass castles around Ooo?" He questioned.

"I'd love to answer that lovely question, but first, have a seat you guys. Jeez." The two heroes shyly entered the room and reluctantly sat down on the soft, cotton candy like couch. "Princess…" "Oh yeah. It's been a while you guys! Staying in the castle really bores me. You should come quite often." She said as she poured a hot cup of tea in her tea cup. "Yeah. Sorry about that…" Finn stared at the floor, feeling guilty. "It's okay Finn. I find it really weird for you not to answer my calls though. You always answer my calls. *Sigh*" she faced the window with a melancholic expression on her pink face.

"Uh, are you okay? Princess?" Jake asked. "Okay? I'm doing great. Sitting here, poking zombie flesh all day." She leaned on the table where the weird sample lain, slightly moving.

The hero took a deep breath anf finally popped the question once again. "PB, do you know any glass castles around Ooo?" Finn twiddled his thumbs. "Hm… glass, Such material insn't appropriate to be used for architectural purposes… in fact, it was banned to be used by engineers for foundations and walls 400 years ago…" The princess paused for a minute while pondering for the answer. "Well, if it's hard for ya Princess, we're cool." Jake patted her shoulder.

**Oh no, if they leave at once, they wouldn't come back for another week or so… **The princess frowned at the thought. "Well, the skies have turned icy blue all of the sudden, killing the storm. I want you guys to get me some samples from the Ice Kingdom."

"Well, we haven't gone adventuring for some time, so yeah. Sounds good to me." Finn shook his head in agreement. "Yipee~" she gave a high pitched squeak. "I know I can count on you guys!" she gave a thumbs up. "No, probs PB…" The two heroes grinned eagerly. "Well, it's best for you to wear these on your trip." She passed a pair of necklaces with hollow, shell like pendants fro mher pocket. "What care these?" Finn askedas he looked at the peculiar accessory. "These are samplettes. They're used to store even the most sensitive and volatile substances." "Sweet! I could give this to Lady as a birthday present!" Jake looked in awe as he wrapped it around his neck.

The two of them stared at the awestruck dog. "What? A man's gotta give his lady an awesome present…" He giggled at the thought of his girlfriend's reaction. The room fell silent for about a minute. Shortly, Marceline flew in from the window, grumbling.

"Ugh. Can't you believe it Bonnie? They called me old. OLD." She looked at her face in the mirror to check for some signs of ageing. "Marceline? Sorry, we're in the middle of a conversation here." The princess shooed the frustrated vampire away.

"Tch." As the vampire shifted her gaze at the two heroes, her eyes suddenly widened. "Hey Marcy." Finn plainly greeted. "Don't "Hey Marcy" me! Tell me honestly? Do I look like an old hag to you or not?!" she pointed at the hero with her cheecks flaring up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Marcy! Please, calm down." Jake patted her shoulder.

"Okay? What's going on? The princess asked the well dressed vampire. "Fine. These two babies came into my doorstep this morning and asked me a question that only an "old geezer" should know about. Can you believe it?" She crossed her arms. "And does that explain the fairly revealing ballgown?" the princess smirked. "I-it was my mom's…" She said as she looked at her occasional get up. "Riight." The princess ' eyes narrowed.

"I've already apologized okay? …calm down Marcy." Finn smiled a little. "*Sigh* you clearly don't know how girls work ,do you?" "Well, you _are _a thousand years old_." _Jake gave out a huge grin. "Dude! You aren't helping!" the hero scolded. "Forget it. I'm just denying my actual age, just like pinky over here." The vampire pointed at the clueless princess, which somehow offended her.

"Well, To be completely honest, I find you really cute. Especially with that dress." Finn gave out a gentle smile, which clearly, made her blush. "S-shut up Finn…"She looked away from his gaze. "Well then, perhaps a promising individual like you would be willing to accompany these two on a journey?" Princess Bubblegum asked the vampire as she patted Finn's head slightly. "Well, I guess a little hero time sounds good."

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><p><strong>London bridge as fallen down, fallen down, fallen down...<strong> Elsa sang as she walked around the cold winter scape carrying an Ancient book pressed against her chest. "Hm, I wonder what this book does? I guess this has something to do with my father though." **Go to where the book leads you****. **

Those where the words written on her father's last will and testament, written on barely burnt paper with runes written around it to protect her. As the innocent, white haired mage continued to head for the next town, a hooded figure overlooked her from a frosted hill. "Let's see if you can hold on to _that _book much longer... spawn of Kaldr."

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><p><strong>Well, that was excruciatingly long. Well guys, expect a juicy chapter tomorrow. I wonder how important that book is? Who the heck is Kaldr? Your questions will be answered my friends. Stay tuned for some action in the next chapter, and some Flinn goodness.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5 - The Book

**Well then, I've managed to update faster than expected. I did a lot of changes with the horrid text walls, thanks to srghost11 for the reminders. And Ooobserver, I'll be merciful to these two (Finn and Jake) this time, and add a little information about the structure. And to you, the reader, I hope the changes I've made your eyes read better. I also hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and especially reading my story. Please, give me some useful feedback. Pwease?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5 - The Book<strong>

As our young mage, Elsa, ventured towards the road to a distant town where her father's last will and testament instructed, the snow surrounding the area suddenly whipped into a blizzard. The sudden change of weather caused the winds to blow stronger, sending the hapless mage's map flying through the frosted storm. "Damn it! Great! How can I possibly go to Emerald City without this stupid piece of paper?" The frustrated mage kicked the snow below her, to ease her anger.

**Use your magic to guide you, young one. **An ominous voice advised her. "No way, if I do, I might cause another tragedy..." The mage trailed off as memories of the recent murder raced through her thoughts like wildfire. She quickly shook her head, just to douse the gory and melancholic thoughts about her great loss.

"Don't worry dad. I'll avenge you. No need to remind me." The mage teared up as she gently rubbed the side of her cheeks, thinking that her father's spirit haunts her thoughts in a way to remind her about her vengeful promise: To bring him justice.

As she looked through the seemingly visible winds, a figure could be seen from a distance. **Must've been some traveler. Hm. I guess I'm not the only one who's crazy enough to pass this dangerous route.** the lass scoffed at the thought.

**Directions. Snap. I need some directions! **The mage then decided to inquire the mysterious figure for some help. "Hey! You! Do you know how to get past this route?" she yelled with half of her remaining strength left. Sure enough, the enigma didn't respond to her loud yells and suddenly stopped moving for a moment. This action unnerved the mage further more.

"Fine then! Have it your way." the lass pouted as she pushed towards the deathly cold breeze.

**__"Sanguinem mittat!"__ **Another voice yelled behind the snow stricken lass, in a language that ruled the golden era of religious magic: Latin. "What the? Some sort of spell?" the mage muttered as she felt a wet sensation coming from her side. She quickly touched the source of her discomfort and realized something that shocked her further more.

**I'm bleeding.** the lass shivered as her body resisted the uncontrollable urge of paralysis. She heard the sound of footsteps coming her way, probably to assault her from behind. As she turned around, her gaze was welcomed by an disturbing, doll like,metallic figure wielding what looks like a silver spike on its arm. Frightened, the girl froze like the stones beneath her, tethering her gaze to the enigma. After moments of sharing torturous gazes, the figure threatened her in the most creepiest way possible by uttering those words, **Give me the book, or play with me in my hollow shell...Forever.**

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><p><em><strong>At the Candy Kingdom City Gates<strong>_

"Why do we have to wear such goofy clothes?" Marceline chuckled as she glanced at her gravity suit, just like that of an astronaut. "Thank you, I designed it myself." The princess replied in a sarcastic fashion. "Well, I think it's cool." Finn posed on the spot, which caused Jake to burst out laughing.

"Dude! I can't breathe! You look like some Power Ranger reject! Hah!" The dog wiped his tears as he clenched his "tickled out" belly. "Ahem." Princess Bubblegum cleared her thought as she stared at the comical dog, intently.

"Oh, sorry princess, hehe." the dog bowed slightly. "To explain why you guys are forced to wear some of my poorly designed clothes, these suits are used for going through the most unstable areas in Ooo, just like the radioactive vat that LSP keeps in her bathroom. But, since these are used for banana guards, I sorta forgot to make some "normal" sized clothes." The princess gave a slight blush.

"Okay then. Aren't we supposed to go on a mission? Enough with the crappy chit-chat, Let's move!" Jake gave a head start and exited the gates in a hurry. "What's up with Jake?" Marceline asked the hero, who stared at him at the distance. "Perhaps, he has another date with Lady, again." Finn shrugged. "Who knows? It looks like he's really eager to get this over with."

"By the way, good luck you guys. I'll be calling from time to time to check if you guys aren't fooling around. Toodles~" The princess gave a slight smirk. "Yes mommy." The vampire replied in an emotionless tone as the colossal gates closed in front of the two figures.

"Jeez, Why'd you guys have to keep on doing her dirty biz?" Marceline asked the hero, who's helping himself with a box of orange juice. "Well, it's just that I kinda feel guilty for not visiting her for quite a while, so... I had no other choice, you know?" the hero continued to quench his thirst. "You didn't have to do such things Finn. Don't let other chaps take advantage on you. Take advantage on yourself, that counts a lot." The vampire patted his shoulder. **Marcy _has_ a point there... **the hero thought.

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><p>As they ventured towards the road, which covered in greenery, the two individuals haven't shared a conversation along the way, which was really strange for a bunch of noisy people like them.<p>

Along the pathway, Marceline spotted a crystal-like object stumbling across her way. **How cute.** Slightly interested, the vampire picked the object up from the dirty concrete and shoved it on her pocket for keeps sake. "Something wrong, Marcy?" Finn paused his trekking for a while, looking back at the female vampire to check up on her. "Oh, nothing. Carry on, let's just hurry before we lose Jake." the vampire reminded. "Oh glob, yeah."

Knowing how impossible it is to catch up with the flexible canine on foot, Marceline suddenly crouched down in front of the hero. "Hop on. It's not like we're boring ourselves to death by walking, are we? Let's have a good dose of thrill once in a while." she winked. "Yeah, yeah. Just to warn you though, I'm kinda heavy with all the junk stored in my pack." He chuckled as he mounted on the vampire's back. "Hang on, spider monkey." The vampire smirked. "Hey, I'm no monkey." Finn chuckled at the remark. "*Sigh* Whatever. It's just some stupid line I got from some cheesy vampire movie." Marceline rolled her eyes.

They suddenly bursted at high speeds, quickly passing the swaying greenery and uprooted flowers below them. The hero's face brightened up in glee as the vampire slightly blushed at the gleeful moment. **What're you doing Marceline? You can't seriously find happiness with him. **The vampire quickly shook her head, and attempted to focus her gaze at their destination. **  
><strong>

For less than five minutes of burst speed, the two eventually reached a road full of icy patches of snow. The vampire halted her sprinting for a moment, interrupting the human's joy ride. "Huh? Are we at the Ice Kingdom already?" Finn quickly took a glance at his surroundings. "Weird. The Ice Kingdom's thirty minutes away from Bonnie's. So, why have we arrived at the place in less than fifteen minutes?" The vampire questioned. "Yeah. I guess the Ice King's buying a lot of land to get near the princess." Finn pounded his fists in frustration.

"But Simon's too stupid to lay in such smart moves." The vampire protested. "Uh, Finn? Could you get off my back?" The hero quickly unmounted the tired vampire. As he stood on the patches of snow, the temperature literally freezes his feet, even his science suit can't provide him enough warmth to get his blood flowing. "Man, I think my pulse just stopped." The hero jolted. "Really? Mine stopped over a hundred years ago." the vampire joked.

"I'm serious." The human stated as his face slowly turned blue. "Oh glob! Get the heck outta there Finn!" The vampire quickly pushed the hero to the dry ground, just inches away from the frozen water. "There must me some rare kind of magic in these grounds. I think it's best if you just stay put. I'll do all the work here." The vampire smiled. "No, I can't just slack off!" The human protested.

As the two argued over their selfless acts, they've spotted what looks like a seemingly wounded figure concealed behind the frosted snow. "It's a person! I need to help him!" Finn quickly stood up and attempted to scoot across the life threatening substance. "You can't just help someone without knowing their motives! He might be an assassin or something." "Marcy, that's what heroes do. We help regardless of what type of person he is." Finn stared at her red irises, pleading her to let him fulfill his role. "B-but..." "Do you trust me or what?" Finn shook her shoulders. "Yes..." The vampire looked down. "Well then, let me do my selfless job."

As Marceline reluctantly released her grip on Finn, the hero rushed towards the figure to find himself a bleeding young lass lying on the deathly cold grounds. **Weird, this girl didn't turn blue like I am.**The hero thought as he noticed the lass' immunity. Shortly, the lass fixed her gaze at Finn, giving him an unemotional stare.

"Stay...away!" The lass warned as she reached her quivering arm at the young hero, with blue runes orbiting around her hand. Captivated, the hero lended his hand to the injured maiden. "Relax ma'am. I'm here to save you..." His arm slowly shook, making him grunt. **Looks like the snow's taking full effect on him...crap, If I'm going to use my magic to heal him, _he_ might be able to track me down.**

Elsa halted her channeling ritual and uttered, "You're just risking your life saving the wrong person..." she coughed up some blood, further staining the ground with shades of red. "Oh my glob, I'll land you to the hospital ASAP!" the hero shrieked as he reached for the healing potion he carries in his pocket. As the lass spotted the magical potion, she quickly locked his arm, preventing him from healing her with magic. "What's wrong with you lady?!" Finn strengthened his arms, subduing her grip.

"Don't!" Finn spilled the green liquid on her belly, causing her to emit healing runes to patch up her wounds. **Is he for real!? Now look, that thing could now pin point my location because of him. ** As the green runes attempted to heal her, the wounds refused to close in, further perplexing the young lad. "Damn! This needs another bottle!" Just when he's about to spill in another bottle, the lass stopped him.

"Look, I know, you're a nice guy. You tried to save me, but what you're doing would only lead you to your death...just...look at you, the reason why I could easily stop you healing me because of the magic eating your energy and stopping your pulse!" the lass explained. The hero couldn't utter anything but quiver his frozen blue lips. "Look out." The lass quickly pulled Finn flat on the ground, further afflicting his skin with the drops of frozen rain. The hero glanced at the steel spike barely hitting his neck.

"What's going on!?" Finn exclaimed. "We're under attack...well, I'm the one who's under attack, thanks to you, you've been targeted too along with me." The lass answered his desperate question. "Run... just, run before the frost eats you." She turned away sadly. **I. Found. You! **The metal enigma gave out a maniacal burst of laughter.

"What was that!?" Finn panicked, probably creeped out by the nightmarish voice calling out. As soon as the hero yelled, the lass quickly covered his mouth. "Don't. You're just encouraging him."

As they suddenly fell silent, the slender metallic figure inspected the area thoroughly. **I sense it.** it muttered.

The hero squirmed as the lass covered his warm, gaping moth. "You're just making things harder for me." She whispered. Surprisingly, the hero managed to push his limits to free himself from Elsa's restraints and sprinted across the magic snow in high speeds. **Impossible. No one can run that fast after being exposed to such magic!** The lass looked in amazement as the hero swung his Demon Blood Sword at the fiend, chopping it's jaw with ease.

The figure blinked in a creepy fashion for a couple of seconds, creeping the hero out. **Oh look, a new playmate! **It swiftly pummeled the helpless human to the ground with great haste in it's fists, making the odds of surviving this assault to be futile.

**You idiot... Why would you have to jump in and save me? For that, I need to help you fight on... I don't wanna lose more people! **"Exterior Break!" she bellowed as the runes orbiting her hand shone luster red. Eventually, the figure reacted to the spell, slowly chipping off it's skin like that of rotten wood. **Darn it! MAGIC! **it screamed as parts of it slowly disintegrated like dry sand. "Get out!" the lass warned Finn as part of his skin reacted to the dangerous spell, causing his arm to bleed rapidly. "I told you, run. Get outta here as fast as you can! The lass yelled. "N-not..without you!"

As the hero limps towards her while grasping his wounded arm, he began to feel dizzy, maybe it's because of the prolonged state of exposure in the magical snow, or maybe due to the recent blood loss from the wounds he acquired in battle.

Soon enough, he fell in a thud, causing his vision to finally go black.

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><p><em><strong>At the Candy Kingdom Hospital -<strong>_

"Were...am I?" Finn muttered as he looked around his surroundings with his currently blurred state of vision. "I see you're awake. Thank goodness. You're in the Hospital, Finn. Marceline came in and saved you guys." It was Princess Bubblegum, who sat next to the hero's hospital bed. "What?...oh, the girl! Where is she?" the hero jolted up from the bed and checked his arm, just to find it wrapped in taffy gauze.

"She's in the other room. It was noble of you to save her. I shouldn't have sent you guys there, knowing how troublesome it really is for you guys. Look at how much danger I placed you in!" The princess covered her pink face out of shame and guilt. "There's nothing to blame on you, PB. So I guess it's a "mission failed"?" the hero gave out a crooked smile. "You idiot!" she quickly hugged him tight out of worry. "Princess..."

"Well Finn, if you'll excuse me, I'll check up on the other patients..." she abruptly ended the hug after she received a text message from Doctor Princess, who's currently monitoring on Elsa's condition. "Sure... I'm cool." "Great. Thanks for understanding, Finn..." The princess slowly left the room.

She suddenly rushed towards the hallways, like it was some kind of emergency. After passing a series of hallways and lobbies, she finally made it her way to a fully monitored room where the mysterious lass rested.

"Did you find anything about her yet?" The princess asked the female doctor, who's clearly having a hard time interacting with her. "I've got nothing. She's probably an unregistered citizen. Regardless of such matter, she won't tell me anything!" the doctor complained. "Hm, I see. What's your name?" The princess shifted her gaze at the half conscious lass. "Fine, my name is Elsa." the lass responded coldly. "I see, Elsa. Could you please tell us why..." She paused off for a moment, fixing her gaze at an old book lying next to her bedside.

"...Why do you have _**The Enchiridion**_ in your grasp?"

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><p><strong>Whoo! Now that's a fairly long chapter. Took me a while to find the appropriate settings for this one. Well then, this concludes the 5th chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and oops, I forgot to put in Flame Princess. But don't worry, she's definitely in the next chapter. Oh, guys? A review and a fave could help. A lot. <strong>


	6. Chapter 6 - Consumed

**Hey guys, it's me Samushark. Sorry for not updating for the last two days, since I was studying for the exam I mentioned on the Author's Note back on chapter 3. Yes, cause of the storm, it was delayed, and well, we have classes on Saturdays for the whole month. (Damn it.) **

**I'd like to thank The Nephillim King Michael, Ooobserver and GummyBuns for the reviews and praises. That really helped me a lot to come up with a chapter better than my last one, which was really a kinda difficult task to do, since there's a lot to do in my school. Anyhow, I don't wanna fill this long awaited chapter with a sea of Author's notes. Let's get on with the story already, shall we?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6 - Consumed<strong>

"We are here, Sir." A fire elemental informed their prince, who's riding on a blaze lion's back. "Don't be so stupid, comrade. The Shade Kingdom is just hundreds of miles away." It was none other than Furion, Flame Princess' older brother, who know serves his younger sister's kingdom as a high ranking general.

"Uh, sir? That map is outdated... everyone knows that the Shade Kingdom is ruled by an powerful wizard. So _that_ castle over there is just an illusion." The foot soldier corrected the regal general. "O-of course. Heheh. How foolish of me." The prince scoffed at his innocence towards such common knowledge.

"Drake! Just use your weird eye already!" The prince commanded the hooded fire elemental, who stared at the royal with little emotion. "Fine." the fire elemental chanted a spell that unlocks the mysterious power that rests in his left eye. _**Mater Deus est in oculis puerilibus!**_As the young fire elemental bellowed, the flames that made up his body shifted into a shade of emerald green with various gem-shaped runes jutting out of his back.

As the whole horde stared with captivation in their eyes, the young elemental plainly revealed the exact location of the kingdom, which was far behind them. "Good work, Drake!" An huge fire elemental slapped the young fire lad, causing him to blurt out a short grunt.

"Damn it Diesel! It burns!" Drake stared at the huge soldier with annoyance present on his face. "What? Your already made of fire. So there's no need to feel pain brotha." A feisty fire elemental with "slicked-back" hair appeared, narrowing the eyes of the young elemental. "*Sigh* Whatever. Sheesh, it feels like I'm being used or something..." The young fire elemental walked away from the two figures, following the front flank which is currently heading towards the black, ebony gates. "What's his problem?"

As the frustrated elemental continued to walk away, someone tried to stop him. "Hey bro, you pestered or something?" It was Flarus, Drakes best friend. "Yeah. But I'm pretty much used to it. Don't worry." the fire lad smiled. "Well, don't worry about it! At least you'll return as a hero once this mission's done. Who knows? Maybe you and Anna would get hitched! hehe."

Those remarks made Drake's green flames glow a pair of visible pink shades on his cheeks. "W-whatever. She doesn't even like me." the elemental stated as he turned his head away from his best buddy.

"Don't just speculate. Maybe she likes you all along and she doesn't admit it. Life's full of different possibilities. And plus, you don't talk to her." Flarus gently pushed him away. "Talk about someone who's close to her..."

Moments after, Prince Furion called unto the skinny shade guards above the heavily black gates. As soon as the shade guards fixed their gaze at the flaming army, they gave out a hiss and quickly got out of sight. "I think they kinda missed the point of our visitation." An adviser whispered to the princes' ear. "What makes you say that?" The prince asked. "You've brought the whole horde and nullified the kingdom's invisibility walls. They might've misinterpreted it as a skirmish."

"Well then. Get ready if they'll assault us. Men! Get ready!" The prince called upon the swarming horde, unleashing their various weapons and loading their arrows. "Sir, I think it's best to leave now." The adviser suggested with a glint of fear in his tone. "Nonsense! I won't just abandon the mission from my sister's orders can I?" The prince reasoned. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

As ambiance raised upon the hearts of the soldiers, the sky suddenly turned pitch black, adorning the kingdom with darkness, only to be illuminated by the flaming army.

"Stay still, men. They're coming." As the darkness enveloped upon the horde of the dazzling elementals, a bunch of dark, skeletal, demon-like creatures assaulted the men in the front flank. "Archers! Fire!" The generals instructed their most skilled elven-trained archers to aim for the dark creatures, in attempt to prevent them from consuming the foot soldiers, which were slowly pummeled into the darkness, dousing their life flames.

As the blazing arrows flew like the winder geese, the light shining on the tips of the weapons quickly died on contact. "No effect! Try the lightning rods!" The fire kingdom spearmen, who were naturally adept with lightning, threw their Zeus bourne javelins at the abominations as dozens and dozens of foot soldiers died by their hands. The prince however, failed to damage or even land a single hit on the demonic shades. Subduing them is nearly impossible.

"Squires! We have no other choice but to aid the warriors unto battle." An instructor commanded the young warriors, who were mixed with fear, bewilderment, and an insatiable urge to retreat. "What the hell is going on!" Flarus yelled at the fiasco, as a bunch of burned out fire elemental corpses landed right into their platoon.

"I knew it..." Drake clenched his emerald colored fist. "We can't beat them... we will _never_ beat them..." he whispered under his breath. "What do you mean Drake!? Why are you just standing here while everyone's slowly consumed by whatever those things are!" Flarus fumed in confusion and anger.

"Don't you know Flarus?! The shades hate everything! Only the queen is stupid enough to make an alliance with them!" Drake grabbed the blazing elemental's shoulders. "How dare you..." As the young soldier raised his fists at his best friend, he paused for a moment and slowly walked towards the troop of juvenile foot soldiers marching towards the battlefield to aid their "heroes."

"Don't walk into a battle you can't possibly be serious on winning!" Drake grabbed his arm, in attempt to stop him from getting himself killed. "Isn't this our fate to be soldiers, Drake? To die for the kingdom, for the queen." he shoved his arm, causing Drake to lose his grip. As Flarus ventured on, he noticed the number of flying soldier corpses going nearer to their area of position. He unleashed his weapon and joined the whole squad of juveniles in their last battle cry, well, all juveniles except for Drake.

As they were about to go forth, an injured soldier stopped them by their tracks. "Stop! Report to the Queen as fast as you can!" The soldier instructed, as he leaned towards the piles of bodies lying in the dark. "What's the matter? Isn't this our chance to fight? Our chance to fulfill our purpose in life?" Flarus stood out by the crowd of teenage warriors. "No...even the most skilled warriors are no match for the-" Before the foot soldier would even finish, the poor guy was utterly clobbered by a huge arm, killing him on the spot, and of course, driving the young crowd with fear.

A bunch of those demonic shades, with eyes burning with sapphire flame, let out a loud, ghastly roar that would even make even the most bravest knights tremble in fear. "Run!" "We're all going to die!" "Mommy!" those words were mostly quoted by the fleeing teenagers, rendering their life purpose as brave soldiers utterly useless.

**I won't run.** Flarus moved forward towards the shadow demon's blazing furnace of a mouth, with fear absent in his eyes. **I won't give in. **The young warrior swung his blade towards it, causing the blade to disintegrate into a million pieces. **There are no limits!** he grabbed the dagger from his pocket and attempted to slice the creatures, which obviously, isn't possible, since the only weapon decent enough to actually hurt a shade would be Nothung, the legendary sword of the recently deceased hero, Billy.

Soon enough, the annoyed demons slammed the young warrior into the black grounds, causing his flames to nearly die out. "I guess this is the end...for me." Flarus gave out a slight grin as the demon's deathly flames beckoned around his dying body "I lived a good life." As soon as the young warrior accepted his fate, green flames suddenly consumed the demon, hurting it by giving it a fatal blow to it's dark gassy body.

"Flarus! Buddy, you okay?" An concerned Drake rushed towards the dying elemental. "D-drake...I thought you said no body can kill those things?..." The dying soldier shifted his gaze to the blazing black remains of the shade that attacked him earlier. Shocked, the young fire elemental looked at his emerald colored palms, captivated with his unknown power.

"Run, bro...You can kill one, but you...can't kill them all..." Flarus coughed up some blood, further making Drake more worried about his best friend's life. "How about you!?" Drake yelled. "Leave me. I'm about to die anyway..." the young warrior smirked as his flames slowly weakened. "Damn it! I won't leave you. I can't afford to lose my brother..." Tears left the eyes of the young fire lad as he clutched on to Flarus' cold hands. "Well...I don't want to lose a brother too. So leave..." The dying warrior instructed. As Drake looked at the horizon, horror and gore filled his eyes, as the remaining soldiers in the battlefield were utterly eviscerated and doused by the army of ruthless shades.

"Horrifying, isn't it?..." Flarus asked the scared fire elemental. "They'll pay for this..." Drake clutched his fists tighter, with eyes filled with rage. "They will... and someday...your vengeance...will be pointless..." As he gave his final breath, the remains of what used to be his best friend shattered into the dust, causing the young elemental to have an emotional breakdown.

As the battle rages on, green flames consumed the black walls, revealing the seemingly untouched greenery, the forest which stood outside the Shade Kingdom's gates.

"There's an exit! Run!" Only some of the soldiers managed to escape through the hole Drake made out of his hungry flames, but, unfortunately, the black sphere that seemed to seal Drake and most of the remaining soldiers seemingly gave up on absorbing damage, and exploded into oblivion, leaving the severely injured soldiers stunned about the traumatizing battle.

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><p>As the gales of the ancient winds swept towards the eternal flame of the ever prospering Fire Kingdom, Flame Princess, as usual, was keeping an open eye to look out for liars or scheduled traders for her to sign in the contract to further improve her kingdom's economy. "Peaceful, as usual." the fire elemental muttered under her breath as she gave out a smile, probably warmer than what she's made of. <strong>I guess Furion and the others aren't back yet...<strong> She thought in her tranquil mind about her older brother, who's out on a mission to settle the disputes between the Kingdom's previous enemies, which would normally take a lot of time to do for a whole horde of flaming warriors.

"Who am I kidding? Of course they're safe. Stop stressing yourself." She scolded herself as she continued to look at the city from a bird's eye view. Probably bored to further keep her constant watch, the elemental decided to take a short break. "Cinnamon Bun! Could you watch the kingdom for me?" She called out to the huge ball of bread, who's in the middle of feeding the flambits. "Y-yes Princess!" The hasty candy person tripped on the ground, probably due to his loyalty to her.

As soon as the young ruler climbed down the amber stairs of the tower, the city bells rang, signaling a visitor. "Aw man. Just when I was about to take a break!" The fire elemental mumbled in frustration. I guess it's really hard for her balance her "fun time" with her governance. If it _was_ a normal visit, they wouldn't ring the bell. So without the signaling of a messenger, The young ruler knew that it was something big.

**They're back. **those were the words that landed on her beating heart. But, there are uncertainties. Who knows? Maybe the Fire Kingdom utterly failed to atone their past sins, they lost track, or worse...They might be totally wiped out.

The ruler, filled with worry, ran towards the town square where the gate could be seen in the east of the landmark. Sure enough, the place was filled with various fire elementals blocking her sight. As she pushed through the silent crowd, her arms suddenly leaked cold lava.

**This doesn't seem right. Why do I feel so nervous all of the sudden? **The ruler finally busted out of the bewildered crowd of common folk, her gaze was welcomed by a horrible sight.

Only **four** soldiers came back from the journey, severely injured and weakened.

As they saw her in the middle of the pathway, they bowed almost immediately, struggling to use their legs. "Y-your highness..." they greeted in unison. The ruler noticed that her brother, Furion, was missing in the crowd. "Where's my brother?" she asked one soldier, whose neck was slowly clotted with blood. "Your highness... we...lost a lot of great men...and that includes..." as the soldier trailed off, he shifted his sight to his fellow survivors and they all gave a slight nod. One soldier rose up from the ground and pulled planted a huge sword on the ground and wept bitterly.

As the sword gave a shining glow when a drop of lava trailed down to the ground where it stands, the sword looks very familiar to the princess. It was her brother's war sword, Battle Cry.

The crowd stood there in silence, staring at their quivering ruler who's now biting her lip, probably to act strong in front of her people. "Cousin. It's okay to cry..." Fernius came from the crowd to comfort his weakened cousin. Soon enough, the young ruler wept on the ground in the midst of several people.

"We...cannot determine if he's dead. But I doubt that the Prince would survive... the terrors back in there." One soldier stated with a spike sticking out of his back. As soon as the ruler heard about the possibility of her brother's survival, she quickly wiped her tears and tried not to act so vulnerable to others.

She removed the planted sword from the ground, and raised it into the air, facing the common folk and her relatives in the midst of the mourning crowd. "We will launch a search to find the missing prince. And we won't give up no matter what the cost." she announced, shocking the crowd further more.

"I know this will seem impossible, but I can't afford to forsake my brother and his men."

As the young ruler walked away from the crowd, another messenger announced the arrival of the most unexpected person.

It was Jake, looking utterly worried. "J-Jake. What are you doing here boy?" Flame Princess stuttered, confused of why Jake would ever come to her Kingdom alone. "FP. I think you should come with me." Jake grabbed the ruler's arm, since his body was in the effects of the flame shield Flambo casted earlier. "Finn is injured, and I need you to at least pay him a visit."

The shocked ruler turned away, probably sick of the stress building into her system. First it was the break up, then her older brother's demise, and now, Finn's brush with death. "FP... Please." Jake wiped a tear dropping from his huge, puppy eyes.

"I'm coming."

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><p><strong>Well then. Another OC was introduced. I kinda focused this chapter on the Fire Kingdom's point of view. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and please review my work, and suggest something new for me to put in the future chapters. Until then, see ya.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7 - Fear

**Hey guys. It's been a while since I last updated. Well, I'm really quite busy, and I'm also currently planning some future events for the story to, well, keep you guys reading and drawn in to my piece. I've just finished my exams, so this is pretty much a good time to write. I hope you guys would like this chapter, since I premeditated this one in my memo. My sweet, sweet memo... So anyways, I hope (Again...) That you guys would give me some feedback and stuff that needs to improve etc. Let's get on to the real story shall we, friends?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7 - Fear<strong>

Moments after the unintentional death match which caused thousands of honorable soldiers to die at the dark spherical battlefield, All of Ooo stood up, captivated by the massive emerald beam that danced towards the sky, not knowing what great meaning it holds : rage.

All of Ooo saw it, aside from those lone wizards secluded in the depths of the magic archive, or the various criminals all around Ooo locked inside the land's most secure prison. Finn the Human watched from his hospital window, which gave a great view of the ancient forest that stood outside of the kingdom's gates for hundreds of years.

The rest of the patients grabbed their handheld devices, just to take a picture of the enchanting phenomenon, which caused them to break otherwise, shutting those man-made objects, permanently.

"What the heck?" Finn, bewildered yet captivated at the same time, took off his rather foul-smelling, animal themed hat and stared at the beautiful emerald pillar with hate present in his eyes. Why would he dislike such powerful holy looking light returning to the heavens? Simple, it reminded him of his greatest fear.

Memories flew right back into his mind's eye of the apocalyptic entity that once ravaged all of Ooo and nearly obliterated the universe by one wish, and that being is the actual personification of destruction itself. It was none other than the notorious Lich.

The young hero shook his head, probably suppressing such nightmare of a memory. "He's dead Finn...He's dead..." The hero mumbled under his breath.

As he struggled to grasp the cup of coffee lying on his bedside, the hero gave out a grunt, pretty much to express is frustration. "Having a stubbed hand sucks." The hero said, as he took a quick glance at his heavily bandaged arm.

"Well, its way better than losing one though..." The young hero scoffed as he shifted his gaze blankly at the ceiling. After what seems like forever of having an infinite staring contest with the architectural fragment, he suddenly heard a click coming from the door.

It was a visitor.

"Get in." Finn grunted as he anticipated a comical Jake rushing into the room dancing like some idiot. But no, it was someone else. The hero sighed, probably anticipating another "It's the end of the world!" announcement from one of the older patients diagnosed with demensia.

"Hey Finn." It was Marceline wearing her blue winter jacket, who stood right at the corner of the door, looking worried.

"Oh, it's just you, Marcy. Phew, I thought it was just that annoying old man again." the hero chuckled in his relief. The vampire couldn't utter a word, but give a slight, cutesy grin. "Hah, you really crack me up sometimes, Finn."

The vampire swiftly planted a sword on the hero's bedside, which quickly startled him ,causing him to jolt out from the bed with sweat dropping from his face. "Woah Marcy! Are you trying to- Oh. It's just my sword. Thanks again..." the young hero quickly took the blade off the floor and inspected it for any signs of breakage.

"You sure love that sword so much." Marceline stared at the hero's focused eyes. "Yeah, This was my dad's. Well, he gave it to me years after he died. Sometime this thing acts on it's own, giving threats me threats and stuff. Fixing it is such a pain, since it's made entirely out of demon blood." The hero stated, placing the chipped crimson blade on his bedside. (Right next to the half frosted cup of coffee, of course.)

The vampire grabbed the blade and took a quick glance at the huge wedge just right near the handle, which raises the risk of breakage, due to a faulty base. "Demon blood huh?" The vampire slowly bit her thumb, causing it to bleed slowly.

"M-marcy? What are you doing?" The hero's eyes widened at the action, "What? Don't you want it to be fixed?" The vampire slowly slid her thumb across the worn out blade, causing it to emit grey steam.

"Marcy. You don't have to..." Finn stared in amazement as the small cuts on the blade healed rapidly than expected. "There you go. I couldn't fill that huge wedge for you. Unless you want me to lose a lot of blood, that is. " The vampire placed it on his lap, which gave soon after gave a slight red glow.

**Wow...wait. Every time I placed some new demon blood to repair it, Kee Oth would _always _show up. But why doesn't he show up right after Marcy fixes it? **The hero thought, since he kinda forgot about the vampire's half-demon lineage. "Oh yeah. She's part demon. Damn you, coffee. Damn you."

"Finn? Is there something...wrong?" Marceline asked the human, who's now acting a tad bit...off. "No. Nothing's wrong." The hero stood up and crouched down to retrieve a copy of his favorite book and leaned at the side of the bed, reading it silently.

The vampire decided to join him, and thus, she quickly flew next to him. "Finn. I know there's clearly something wrong with you nowadays." The vampire stated. "Please, don't hide anything you're storing from away from me." The vampire pleaded. "Really, what makes you think I'm out of character?" Finn asked. "Look, the thing about glass castles? Dreams? Halting your goofiness in anyway? That's not you." She explained. "Well, sorry that I'm kinda getting smarter enough to make it difficult for you to take advantage of me." Finn replied with sarcasm in his words.

"I wasn't expecting an answer like that, but wow. You've proven yourself to be a boring jerk." Marceline looked away out of disdain. "What are you talking about?" Finn blurted out. "I'm talking about what's changing you! Think about it! I'm worried about you you know!" The vampire grabbed both of his shoulders tightly.

"What am I to you, exactly, Finn? What am I to you that you can't even tell me what's wrong? Don't you trust me?" The vampire's eyes started to go wet with tears as she shared her line of sight with the hero. "I-i do..." The hero responded weakly, focusing his gaze at the candy coated floor.

As he stared into the blank void, vivid images of a somewhat apocalyptic event raced through his head, filled with death...terror...and most especially, fear. Demonic and distorted voices echoed through his mind repeating the same phrase over and over again. **Break the glass...break the glass...**

"Break the glass...break the glass..." Finn trailed off with his eyes glowing green, wearing a disturbing smile on his face. "Finn! Keep it together! Finn!" The vampire started to cry, due to the unnatural aura flowing through his body. "Finn!" She yelled as her warm tears dropped against the floor.

With eyes wide open, vulnerable hero screamed in terror shivering like never before, scaring the poor vampire. In her warm embrace, the hero also felt her body shake, as well as the constant sniffling of her nose which gave him a moment of guilt. A guilt formed due to his strange actions.

"M-marcy... I know, you're scared. Please stop following, or going wherever I go. You're just going to end up getting hurt yourself..." Finn pleaded the shivering vampire. "I don't care... I can't just leave you alone... you're my henchman after all..." the vampire's voice quivered, which was quite strange for a fearless, care free individual such as herself. "Regardless, you can't just do what you want." the hero responded. "Same to you... But each living thing has it's own free will. Remember that." Marceline reminded as she loosened her grip.

"And I have the free will to refuse. It will never end. You'll keep proposing, i'll keep rejecting. No one's gonna win unless either of us would back down." The hero stated a fragment of his philosophy, which originated from his brain _without_ the Glasses he used when he tried to impress Princess Bubblegum at the Science grill back when he was just 12 years old.

The vampire, unable to control her feelings, slowly crept closer to the hero, making the young lad confused. "M-marcy? What are you-" Before he could even speak, the vampire's lips barely touched his forehead. "I can't leave you." She blurted as she swiftly stood up and quickly exited the room out of her embarrassment.

**What _am _I doing? **The vampire leaned against the walls outside his room, clenching her chest tightly. "I need no one..." she whispered to herself, just to help her regain the dignity she has seemingly lost.

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><p>The hero plopped, emotionally stressed and flushed with crimson cheeks above the bed as he tried to reach the heat-dead cup of coffee he neglected a while ago. He eventually took a quick sip and jolted due to the bitterness it accommodates, which was worth a decade or more to brew. The hero, once again, started giving in to his odd new habit of staring at the ceiling for no particular reason.<p>

"If I weren't such a jerk to everyone, none of this would've happened. I wouldn't have to push Marcy and the others away from me." Finn spoke to himself, just like how he talks to Jake when he's troubled. Well, since his best friend isn't there to cheer him up this time, the Slyphs could give him some appropriate advice, which cannot be heard in actual words, that is.

As he looked through the window, it seems like he had a trance for half an hour, since the sun has already died out for the day, leaving a trail of crimson lit clouds which comforted the young lad due to it's familiar hue.

The hero gave a slight grin, since the color of the clouds itself reminds him of Flame Princess quite a lot. "I wish you would be able to see this with me right now, FP. " the young hero whispered as he slowly closed his innocent eyes.

But as soon as his gaze was blocked by the darkness of his own eye lids, the visions appeared again. Burning people, calamities, meteors... and lastly, an exploding earth, which caused the poor lad to wake up abruptly.

He looked around his room and shook his head, trying to erase the visions that ravaged his sanctum. "What's going on with me?" he wiped the cold sweat off his cold forehead, breathing deeply.

He heard a knock in the door. Sure enough, he wouldn't want anyone to disturb his privacy, but he got up and opened it anyway, due to his considerate and patient nature.

Strange. Smoke emits from the door where the knock was heard. With his heart pounding so fast, he knew who was the unlikely visitor to come to his aid this early time of night. None other than the light of his life, Flame Princess.

He took a deep breath, braced himself and swung the door. And there, his gaze was welcomed by the most beautiful thing he ever laid eyes on.

"Hi Finn..."

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><p>As the young mage, Elsa refused to answer any more questions from the tired princesses, Princess Bubblegum tried to figure out ways on how to get her trust. "I see you can't trust us further more. The book seems strangely intact and it's very unlikely for it to end up into your grasp. I hope you'll be able to spit out the info, or give the book to us, if it's a burden to you, that is." The princess said as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes out of suspicion.<p>

"I don't get it. I just wanna go home and that's it." the mage replied bluntly. "You can't. Yet. The sensors in my lab detect a lot of magical mana from _your_ body. Which means you must've been someone powerful enough to acquire such an item." The princess added. "Look, thank you for bringing me here in your care. But, I'm not giving this book to anyone aside from myself." Elsa strongly stated, quickly taking the ancient manual into her grasp.

"Elsa. Give us the book. We need it. Well, all of Ooo needs it. The whole world needs it." The princess slowly pulled the book, in attempt to retrieve it from her. "You don't understand... how much this book means to me!" she gave out a small ice bast, which pierced the princess' arm, causing her to scream in pain, giving her enough time to escape.

The young mage materialized into a gust of cold wind, blowing everything in it's path. Elsa shot up into the ceiling, bringing the significant book with her, causing the injured princess to call for an emergency stake out for every banana guard in the candy kingdom. "We can't...lose her so...soon!"

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><p><strong>Well. Another edition to this story with a lot of drama I placed. I hope you guys would once again, give me some feedback, and also a fave would be greatly appreciated. Stay tuned and for now, I'll be just formulating stuff for the next chapter. Toodles.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8 - Havoc

**Okay, I'm really sorry that it took me around a week of planning, but hey, it's here. Chapter 8, that is. Wow, I am so happy for the awesome amount of good feedback and anticipation for the previous chapter, and I swear, this chapter's going to be epic-er. (Wow, I added an "er".) Well then, I hope you'll give me more feedback, and I hope that I'll have a load of spare time formulating some good reading material. Here's chapter 8.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8 - Havoc<strong>

The young hero stood there by the door, slightly quivering in nervousness and surprise. "Um, Hi, Finn?" The young and fiery ruler waved her bright hands left and right, just to make sure if he's not in a trance or anything. "O-oh, FP, Hi." the hero slightly opened the door, signaling her to come in, which she quickly did as she slowly melted the edible candy coated floor below her dazzling skirt.

"It's been a while...I haven't seen you in like, forever. Didn't I tell you to visit as long as you're honest with me?" the fire elemental slightly glanced at the hero, shyly.

"It's just that I'm just going to end up lying to you and to myself that everything's okay with us. I'm sorry..." Finn stood by the bed, with guilt filled in his eyes. "Don't be... don't push yourself too hard." the fire elemental shifted her gaze to the hero's stubbed and heavily bandaged arm, with a worried look, which mismatches her seemingly brilliant face.

"Thank you." Finn smiled a little, as if he knows the core reason why she came to him after a year of distance and seclusion from each other. The hero's remarks made her cheeks spark a slight shade of crimson red, which made the young ruler smirk a little, out of embarrassment.

"Finn, I..." The young fire elemental felt that shoving out her other intentions of the visitation would make the hero misunderstand her even more, thus, resulting a trail of an unfinished words. "I know, you don't have to hide your problems from me. I can help you." said the hero in a slightly shaking, but calm voice.

The young fire elemental gave out a slight frown and let out a deep sigh of torment, which made the young hero worry. "Fine... didn't I tell you I have an older brother who works in the military? Well...I've sent him on a mission...and yet...he didn't come back..." hot tears of lava gushed out of her amber-colored eyes, trailing her words for the second time in counting.

The young hero's eyes widened in shock as he fixed his gaze on the rather, captivating maiden, who Is now seemingly tormented by guilt, such as he was tormented by fear. The lad slowly walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her seemingly lethal but quivering body.

The young hero grunted in pain, startling the flustered fire elemental. "Finn! S-stop it! You're going to..." as she trailed off again, the hero tightened his grip as the flames of the princess slowly burned his trademark t-shirt and skin. "Some people are worth burning for..." tears of pain ran down the hero's scalding cheeks, causing the fire elemental to push him back, causing him to jerk back into the bed with burn marks around his chest and face.

"J-just look at you! I-I made your condition worse than before...I-I'm so sorry..." the fire elemental masked her face with her flaming palms, just to hide the expression of sadness and guilt dominating her very soul. "Don't be. Don't let that guilt about your brother's demise control you. I don't want to see you like this, nor will your brother."

"I-I just...can't stop thinking about how I messed up, how I dumped you, how I locked my father in my lantern, and how heartless I am to send Furion and a whole horde of fire soldiers into battle! I'm a horrible person, Finn. I'm not worth your time!" the fire elemental yelled as the hot tears continued to trail down her cheeks.

"That's far from what I think of you. FP, you're an awesome person, and I still think you are until now. You are certainly worth my time, It's because I...I love you." As those words came out of his mouth, the young ruler's eyes widened as he fixed his gaze on Finn, who's now sitting on the edge of the bed in scalded clothing.

"That's the first time...you ever said that to me..." the fire elemental gave out a slight smile. "Why would you just say it right now?...Why is it just this time...?!" The human leaned closer to her, as his lips reached the side of her ear and uttered a promise worth keeping, "I will find him. And I will never give up until I do."

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><p>The clouds hovering above the Candy Kingdom suddenly changed into a shade of frozen blue as an escaped Elsa hovered above the clouds with patches of ice boosting her flight speed, clutching the ancient book in her arms. <strong>I can't find the truth here. I must go seek the Wizard's help. And to do that, I'll need to get the hell outta here. <strong>the young mage thought as the wind blew across her wavy, white locks of hair.

As the young mage looked below her, she saw a whole fleet of banana guards pursuing her from below, armed with their typical hunting spears. But this time, they're riding on horseback, which typical banana guards can't do. These guys are somewhat special.

"Darn it. Why can't they just leave me alone?!" the frustrated lass aimed and threw a huge ball of cyrokinetic energy directly at them, immobilizing the troops. Elsa gave out a mischievous smirk and flew towards the exit; towards the huge edible gates.

As she turned back, a huge missile made entirely out of candy corn grazed her shoulder, causing her to go on full attack on the huge amount of candy corn jet fighters just behind her. "You...have got to be kidding me." The mage blurted out as the runes orbiting around her hand swiftly materialized into a gigantic ice lance, which was four times larger than the seemingly creative jets that are out to get her.

"Eat this." Said the young mage, heartlessly as she swung the weapon towards the flying weapons, slicing them in half. One by one, the candy corn jet fighters fell into the town square and the minor villages, crushing them multiple times with their towering weight.

Soon enough, the people started panicking. Safety ferries are now stationed at the pier, filled with traumatized evacuees, waiting to get inside the boat to escape the destruction Elsa and the pursuit squad caused.

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><p>Meanwhile, the injured princess sat on the floor she fell on, accompanied with Doctor Princess, who's currently treating her wounded arm as the young princess gave instructions to the military squad through cellular connection.<p>

"Say what? the Jets failed to take her down!?" Princess Bubblegum exclaimed through the phone. "Relax, your highness. You're just making the pain in your arm worse with that temper." The doctor advised as she slowly wrapped it in a sticky gauze.

"I know... but I just can't just let _anyone_ take the hero's manual for themselves. I can't let such dangerous item linger out there around Ooo. I don't know why in glob's name is the book intact, but I do know, an escaped cyromancer has it." the pink princess explained.

"Send in the Giants." she commanded whoever's on the phone. "Are you serious?! Didn't those things took you a hundred years to make?" the doctor's eyes widened in shock. "Yes, they did. But if it's for the sake of the entire world, it's all worth the effort."

The doctor rolled her eyes and said, "I really don't know what secrets you have under your chest, but I do know that be book somehow holds the meaning of life, am I not correct?" The princess paused for a minute and replied with an obscure answer, "I couldn't tell you, but I could command you to do something important for me." The doctor smirked and replied in a mischievous tone, "Lay it on me, Princess."

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><p>Meanwhile, just above the borders of the earth lies a huge emerald nest, inhabited by the legendary treant-dragon hybrid, Nerif. Nerif was dubbed by legend as "The All Seer", the one who knows and sees everything living in the natural and unnatural plane.<p>

Observing through his crystal ball, the ancient dragon felt a strong prescence of magic located at the west of the chipped earth, which disturbed him in some way. "Strange." The ancient dragon scratched his wooden beard, which was dangling below his chin. "I've felt only one of these power levels such as these _once_ in a _million_ years. But two of these at the same time and location? I must've been growing old."

The great and wise living legend felt an urge to finish something. And perhaps that something was an object of his hatred and cause of imprisonment into his astral nest, and that is the world itself, the one thing that never escaped his all seeing eyes.

Slumping into it's intricate, emerald carved prison, the beast felt an insatiable hunger for destruction, with his eyes glowing madly with malevolence and sadism.

"No. No. I'm supposed to be a benevolent creature, not the key to earth's oblivion." The dragon face palmed to express his disdain upon himself. "I guess my half dragon heritage is dominating my body. I must control this now...Now!" the great beast roared in anger, quaking the stars around him.

"Oh, Great All Seer. You shouldn't express your rage in front of a guest." A voice called out to him, which startled the dragon further more. "Who are you? And how could you even reach my prison? J-just..." "Save the questions for last." A hooded figure came out from the shadows, revealing himself to be Drake, the emerald fire elemental. "I just need to know why you **chose** me."

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><p><strong>Well, sorry if this chapter's not as long as the others. I hope you like it, and well, a fave could help, and some awesome feedback would be great. Please, forgive me if I cannot update tomorrow, since I am so occupied by that time. But I therefore promise you, that I'll update three to four days after. Just please give me some time to formulate fresh and new ideas that are enjoyable to read. Thank you, and happy reading!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9 - Rebirth

**Hey guys. So it's been a while since I last updated. As usual, I was so busy, but hey, I've managed to spare a little of my time to update this story, just for the awesome reviewers and followers waiting for it. And as usual, I hope you guys would give me some more feedback on the story, since those fragments of wisdom has helped me mold this story into what it is right now. Well, with no further a do, here's chapter 9.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9 - Rebirth<strong>

"Why...I **chose **you?" The bewildered dragon scratched his scraggly, leafy beard with his ancient claws and laughed heartily. "What's so funny?" Drake asked, with annoyance present within the hearth of his green flames. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just that nobody's smart enough to know how they've gotten these special gifts. Even though I am _the_ All Seer, but I still have no clear idea how in the cosmos did you end up here, to ask me a simple question! It's so comical!" The dragon laughed again at his heart's content.

"It seems that the legends aren't as accurate as they'd be. I thought you among everything would know why. Why can my flames cut through shade flesh?" The fire elemental persisted. The dragon reached his arm over him, just to feel the heat of his flames. "Ahh, much better. The cosmos gets a little cold once in a while. Good thing you're here, young one." **Just as I thought. **

"I could read you, All Seer." The fire elemental smirked in a sinister way, staring at him straight at the eyes. The annoyed, yet perplexed dragon grunted deeply. "Judging by your heat, this isn't your _real _body. You used up all your life energy to kill those shades, so meaning to say..." The dragon trailed off as he left one eye open, expecting to see his pitiful reaction.

"I'm dead?" The fire elemental's smirk evolved into a large, yet malificent grin. "Aren't you sad? shocked? scared?" The rather confused dragon asked, as his curiosity for the young, yet gifted lad increases. "No, I was expecting it. But I can't just die without avenging my fellow soldiers..." "So? Is there a certain something you want to ask from this, old one?" The dragon smiled, expecting a "Yes" from the cunning lad.

"Yes. Is that what you're expecting? Let me put this on, bluntly... I need to be reborn." That request made the ancient one widen his eyes fro the first time. "Well, I _have_ the perfect body for your crummy soul. But for one condition..." "Just say it. And I'll do it. But, I'm certainly not going to be further manipulated by you and your corrupted soul." The fire elemental agreed bluntly, clenching his fists as hard as he can.

"Very well." Nerif, the renowned "All Seer" is also adept to Necromancy, and other black arts. The ancient one chanted some ancient, yet cryptic language as the young fire elemental slowly faded into a emerald green orb, with black runes orbiting around it. "I shall guide you on what to do. Now, you shall transcend from this plane to the living world. Do not fail me, young one." The dragon threw the green orb from the sky, until it reached the bare earth where an ancient horror was laid to rest.

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><p>As the Mountains shook and trembled, the earth where the emerald soul seeped in shattered, as a huge, yet hooded enigma emerged from the ground, terrifying the priests guarding the area. "So, this is my new...body." Drake shifted his gaze at the two priests, who were now trembling in fear. "S-stay...away! Come Back to whence you came...you abomination!" The confused fire elemental glanced at the epitaph written on a pillar located behind him. <strong>Here lies Pathos, the 2nd Horseman, who was defeated and slain by an unnamed hero in an unrecorded year at this insignificant temple.<strong> "Pathos huh? That's sounds... nice." His trademark emerald green flames engulfed the recently reanimated body of Pathos as the black runes protruding from his back shifted into dark fairies, evil creatures that have a taste for all good and benevolent creatures.

As the fairies forwarded to assault the two holy men, Drake threatened them by asking a certain, yet delicate question, "Where are the other three?"

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><p>After almost all of the great, edible structures fell and crumbled into a million, frosted pieces, the Special Banana Guards turned away from the intimidating Elsa, as they've headed towards an old and rugged pathway just behind the castle. "They're retreating. Now's the time to head off without hurting anyone." The young mage bursted into high speeds, in an attempt to escape the Candy Kingdom once again.<p>

By the time she's hovered away, the whole kingdom trembled in fear as a gigantic hand emerged from the city undergrounds, trapping the young mage in its grasp. "Ugh! Now what? The whole kingdom's going all out on me? What's so important about this damn book anyway!?" The young mage complained. To completely destroy the huge arm trapping her away from her freedom, the mage relied on her natural gift of frost magic to break free from the physically effective giant.

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><p>The injured princess peered through the hospital windows with a contented smile on her face. "Phew, at least there's something in my kingdom that could restrain someone as volatile as her." As the silence dominated her surroundings, a scared and pale Jake busted into Princess Bubblegum's quarters, panting heavily. "P-princess! The kingdom!..." "I know, Jake. Thank you for your efforts though." The princess interrupted as she touched the gauze ever so slightly. "Go evacuate before it's too late!" Jake pulled her other arm as he frantically exited the room. "I can't. I can't just leave the master piece that I've worked so hard to build to crumble within a night. I'm staying Jake. You should focus on finding Finn and Marceline."<p>

The pink princess smiled at the concerned, yellow bulldog. "B-but...ugh!" The speechless dog rushed out of the room with a quick sprint. **I need to get Finn first, since he's injured...no! I need to get Marceline, since she could help me get Finn out of his bed, oh wait! I need to get the princess! But I've just left the room and she's told me not to bring her in! Ugh! **Those thoughts raced through Jake's complex yet simple brain, causing him to lose focus on the speed granted by his uncanny powers.

After he arrived at the exact hallway where Finn's room was, he's noticed some scorched candy tracks just below him. "Flame Princess must've went in first...oh crud. She might hurt Finn!" Distrusting the ruler for a moment, the magic dog followed the long and slightly hot trail, and as expected, it ended in right front of Finn's semi-burned hospital door, which was left slightly open.

As the dog peered into the gap in the door, his gaze was welcomed by the two lovers, who were in the middle of a somewhat important discussion. "Are you willing to do that...for me?" The fire elemental gazed at him shyly. "Of course... Ugh!" The hero clutched his stubbed arm, which was now bleeding rapidly. "Finn! Are you okay?" The fire elemental asked, as she tried to tether her gaze to his. "I'm...okay. It's just a little aftershock, I can handle it." The hero assured her, as he slowly stood up from the now melting bed.

"Stop telling me that everything's gonna be okay. I'm not a kid anymore, Finn. If your hand can't handle it, please, forget about looking for Furion!" This statement kinda pissed the noble hero off, a little. " Your brother counts the most. Please, FP, don't waste your time thinking about me. Don't ever place me in front of your family." the hero stared at her, intently. "Finn...I...can't afford to lose you..." The fire elemental clutched her chest tightly as she gave a slight bow of guilt and shame.

"Do you trust me?" the young hero lended his hand to her. "I...I do." the flushed fire elemental gently grasped it, which actually stings the young hero's skin a little. "So, don't worry." As soon as the young hero uttered those words, the ground beneath them trembled, with the accompanied blasts of what seems like explosions, located surprisingly,not too far from the building itself.

**I'd love to listen to those two desperadoes, but I need to bust in and save their butts for a change!** Jake swung the door open and screamed like an uncivilized barbarian, leaving the two embarrassed and perplexed at the same time. "Jake...uhm...we were just..." Finn trailed off as he twiddle his tiny thumbs together. "I know. No time to explain, the city's under attack! Looks like you're the only one who's stayed in this wreck of a building. It's best if you guys come with me!" the sweaty dog explained as he frantically pulled them both out of the room.

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><p>"Huh? Since when?" the hero asked out of curiosity. "A few hours ago. Good thing the blasts didn't end up here, or you're toast." the dog replied briefly. "By the way, you still have that grass sword of yours?" the dog added. "Yeah, it's just hanging like a wrist band ever since that shrink ray shrunk it permanently." the hero revealed the rather tiny sword of greenery, which looked much like an accessory than that of an intimidating blade it once was.<p>

"Good. I think it could regain it's size by fusing it with dad's old sword. It's for the best." Jake patted the young hero's shoulder, wearing a slight frown on his face. "B-but...fine. Here's the blade." Finn reluctantly lended the crimson, hell-bourne blade to the magic dog, as he finished inspecting it thoroughly. "Great, now, I'll just pour some stuff together, and it'll work." The dog grinned as he plucked the grass sword pendant from the cheap wrist band wrapped around the hero's wrists. "Do you think it'll help us evacuate for some reason?" Flame Princess asked the magical canine with signs of dispute in her eyes.

"Yeah. Well, you have all the fire power you need, while Finn over here's stuck with the old demon blood sword dad has used a long time ago, glob knows when. So, if Finn's unarmed, at least he's got some magic weapon in his aid, for him to fight back, of course." The dog explained as he knelt on the floor, pouring some various bottles of unknown content into the two blades. "So, you're meaning to say..." "Yeah. In order to escape, we must cut through."

As soon as Jake uttered those words, the blades illuminated an uncanny light into their eyes, since the result is expected to powerful enough to match a legendary sword. "Here we go. Introducing, the Demon Grass Sword."

The hero, captivated by it's appearance, quickly took it from Jake's grasp and swung it lightly. "Woah. It's surprisingly much lighter than my previous ones. Thanks a lot dude." the two brothers shared an awkward, yet warm bear hug. "Uhm guys? Aren't we supposed to, you know? "Cut through"?" The confused fire elemental reminded them. "Oh yeah. let's get on with it, shall we?" The hero unexpectedly swung the blade heavily, resulting into a huge hole that exposed the outside of the hospital, which was a 9 meter drop below. "I've changed my mind." Finn blurted out as he looked down, shocking his two trusted companions.

"I'm not going to escape. But... I'm going to save the Kingdom."

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><p><strong>Well, that concludes Chapter 9. Well, a blade fuse could work, since it would make the blade more better in performance. Who am I kidding? I'm not advertising some kind of car or whatever. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and please, tell me what you think by leaving an awesome review. Please, give me some time to think about what's best for the upcoming chapters, so updates can't be immediate as expected. So anyways, stay tuned!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10 - The Shattering

**First of all, I'll have to apologize for the 6 day wait, which really sucked bigtime. But during those 6 days, I've planned what's most best for Chapter 10, so, here it is. This chapter mainly focuses on making the fight more interesting and difficult to handle, especially with Finn's newly crafted Demon Grass Sword. And since I'm watching a lot of fantasy movies lately, this made me inspired to write this chapter, in-depth, that is. So, let's get on with the real story here, and P.S. a fave and a review would help me a lot. Happy reading!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10 - The Shattering<strong>

As the aura of blackness dispersed throughout the holy sanctuary, the threatened yet innocent priests refused to accept utter defeat, by revealing the secretive location of the other 3 unholy remains, and breaking the creed they are sworn to live by: Never give in to evil.

After a moment of deathly silence, Pathos' eyes narrowed, deepening his gaze towards the other priest, whom he'd clutched with his ginormous,metal gauntlet. "I could see your refusal. I would love to let you guys go, but that would just make things so...boring." the horseman threw the priest against the wall, shattering the intricate and colorful stained glass shining above him. The other priest began to kneel before the great and powerful entity, with fear present within his fully pledged heart.

"A bow wouldn't convince me otherwise." the horseman aimed and raised his burning foot towards the bowing priest, as the poor and unfaithful holy man felt a dangerous form of crippling, mind-blowing fear running through his veins. To avoid his impending death, his companion had no choice but to find a way to save themselves from the ancient form of abomination.

"Go...to the Abandoned Buddhist temple at the east of this cathedral...The trip takes up about, 4 days of departure time..." The injured priest murmured, with masses of elongated shards of glass impaling through his thin and blood deprived chest. "You will find the 2nd Horseman... now go, and leave us in peace!" the priest added, as he coughed some of his blood out of his gaping mouth.

"Steven, what are you doing!? What about the damn creed for glob's sake!" The kneeling priest yelled in frustration. "I appreciate you're efforts to stay alive, but... I can't let you suffer some punishment from your factions." The horseman began to leave the injured men behind, leaving them confused and filled with insatiable guilt. "I'll spare your lives. For now."

The newly reincarnated warrior slammed the insanely large doors shut, leaving a sense of dread lingering upon the stuffy and ancient sanctuary. "What are we gonna do now?" The kneeling priest asked his injured companion. "We must...stop him." the injured priest responded weakly. "But how?! He's way more powerful than us lowly squires!" the other one complained hysterically.

**"**Something tells me...that entity over there...isn't..." **Oh, you insolent fools. Looks like you're the first ones who've figured it all out. You're lucky he spared your lives.** A deep voice echoed from the spacious room. "Who are you!? One of his damn friends!?" the kneeling priest yelled at the voice in a somewhat deep rage. The enigmatic voice ignored the young priest's question and shifted his attention to the injured young lad, leaning on the side of the intricate tapestries hanging on the alabaster walls. **Steven Skywrath. Looks like you could sense the truth and recognize the resonance waves of various souls. It's a shame, you would've done my mission, if it weren't for you and your useless creed. **The offended priest rolled his eyes, while drenched in a pure crimson pool of his own blood.

"How...would you know? You can't be a god of some sort..." Steven smirked. **Oh, I am indeed much more cunning than an average god. **As soon as those blasphemous words echoed throughout the cathedral, piles of smoke materialized before their very eyes. **I am the envoy of the All Seer. And I am here to wipe you all out of existence.**

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><p>As the sweet smelling air of the Candy Kingdom evolved into singed ash and burnt butterfingers, Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, and Flame Princess ventured throughout the severely broken towns, with most of the remaining settlements being partly crushed by giant candy corn aircrafts.<p>

"Wow, this place looks wasted! I guess we should get the hell outta here! Finn? Waddaya say?" Jake poked Finn's broad shoulders. "For the last time Jake, No. I can't ruin my reputation as the good guy who always wanted to help out." the young hero refused his scared brother's suggestion for the second time. "Finn, look around you. What we're dealing with isn't something you can manage alone." Flame Princess warned her justice seeking Romeo, backing Jake up.

"Hey, at least I've got you guys." Finn said as he took a quick turn around and gave out a warm and comforting smile. The flustered ruler shifted her gaze to the scorched ground beneath her naturally lethal form. As the young hero wielded his newly formed blade of cursed and unholy origin, his gaze was tethered to the night sky, only to be illuminated by the great, full moon. "I've got a plan." The hero blurted out, abruptly. "Well, tell us then! Time is of the essence!" Jake exclaimed as he rubbed his fat, sweaty cheeks.

"Hmm. As you can see, the blasts are located at the center of the city, and the moonlight directly shines upon the town square. So walking isn't the best option for me, aside from you guys, y'all have special powers. Jake, I want you to transform into a catapult and aim me directly at the moon over there." Finn pointed out as he grabbed the magic dog's sweaty shoulders.

"Dude, this isn't angry birds. And I'm pretty sure your plan would fail. You'll just literally end up flying at high speeds in zero gravity, with a stubbed arm." Jake shook his head in disapprovement. "Uhm, no offense guys, but since when did you two even turned up to be so smart?" The young ruler asked, as she placed her thumb below her lower lip. "What's with that question, FP? It's just simple rocket science!" Jake giggled.

"Jake, time is of the essence, remember?" the young lad reminded his comrade, by mimicking his quotations. "Oh yeah. Just stop it with the damn repeats will ya?" Jake requested as his body quickly formed into a gigantic catapult. "That would be nice."

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><p>"I guess this is the perfect time for Doctor Princess to seal the giant once again. I'm not so certain if the ice mage would escape its grasp. But to be honest, I doubt it. Its magic nullification is sort of impossible to avoid." Princess Bubblegum sat there, by the hospital window as she took a quick sip of her relaxing earl grey tea, while she spectated the giant from afar.<p>

As the pink royal looked closely at its gigantic, bulky fists, she has noticed a slight, frosty leak just between its fingers. "Oh no..." The princess quickly dialed the Doctor's phone number and called it, pressing the object against her soft ears. "Now's the time! Set the giant into invulnerable mode!" The princess yelled from the top of her lungs. "But princess, if I'll seal him now, how could we even retrieve the Enchiridion from her grasp?" the young doctor asked, with uncertainty present within her stressed out voice.

"We have no other choice here! What if she slips out of the gaps and finally escapes!?" The princess yelled desperately. "We can't wait for another decade for it to be fully recharged. Don't waste the giant weaponry you've pushed yourself so hard to make." the doctor replied, as she reluctantly grabbed the lever that automatically switches its vulnerability.

"Please! Do it before it's too late!" the princess pleaded. The young doctor had no other choice. She took a deep breath and twitched her spectacles before pulling the lever that activates its full potential. "As you wish, your majesty."

As the Doctor pulled the lever, lighting quickly strikes the towering colossus, causing it to bellow out a deep cry of pain that shook the whole kingdom. " What? Did you do it?" The princess asked in bewilderment. "Yes, But that's not the expected reaction. Something's going on here, and it isn't good." the young doctor replied with a soft sigh.

"What is it? Do you know something about mages, Doctor?" the princess asked. "Yes, and as a matter of fact, I was one." the young doctor plainly stated. "I'll tell you the reason, why did I warn you about setting that thing into invulnerable mode..."

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><p>Soon enough, the hero has launched into the air in high altitudes, causing the young lad to squeal in fear, making both the magic dog and the young fire elemental worried for his safety. "Should we catch up to him?" Jake asked Flame Princess with a nervous smile on his face.<p>

"Of course! He might fall and die in there!" The flustered ruler gave a head start with a blazing dash as she burned everything standing in the middle of her pathway. **Hah, she still loves Finn. I knew it all along, hehehe... **Those thoughts danced through the magic dog's mind, as he stared at the lass of fire from the distance.

While falling through the invisible air, something caught Finn's attention from a bird's eye view. **A gumball guardian? No, it's different. It's like some kind of golem, and looks like it's the one who's causing all the explosions. **The hero, thinking that the benevolent giant was the one wreaking havoc in the kingdom's interior, lifted his blade and caused it to stretch over to its enormous back like a grappling hook.

"You're mine, criminal!" Finn yelled as the blade slowly corrupted it's magic nullifying skin. As the hero quickly landed on its back, with blade in hand, he noticed a slight breeze coming from the cracks on it's rugged back.

"Huh?" Before the young lad could react from the odd temperature it released, the giant gave out another ear shocking roar, which was strong enough to repel anything near its boarders. This has caused the hero lose his balance and fall out into the depths of the gaping hole where the giant weapon once rested for a hundred years after its creation.

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><p>"Once an elemental mage gets his or her grasp upon an hollow object, there is a slight chance for them to occupy and borrow its strength of a short period of time, depending on how skilled the mage is." The young doctor informed, with a slight quiver present on her voice. "And to put it bluntly, if Elsa has the skill or talent to occupy the giant in invulnerable mode, nothing can stop her now. Including you, princess."<p>

The princess, filled with disdain and shame, abruptly cancelled the call, as she concealed her face with her left hand to express her guilt. "What in the world...have I done?"

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><p><strong>Well, this probably concludes Chapter 10. Yes, the sword didn't do as much as anticipated. It's only known abilities for now are the corruption aura and some stretchy powers. And I will certainly update it when I have some free time, just for all of you to keep being drawn into the plot, which was my promise to you guys in the Author's Note back at Chapter 1. I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and please, don't forget to suggest me some awesome stuff from you guys, it's always good to get some ideas from the other author's preferences. This is SamuShark, and please, stay awesome. <strong>


	11. Chapter 11 - Call Down

**Well, well, well, look who's back from the dead! Hey guys, it's me, SamuShark. I really am busy, due to the exams and the other stuff my schools pulling at us students, but, here I am, now free from any burden on my back, now ready to write a ton of stuff in this chapter to keep you guys reading my stuff. Woah, 9 faves already? I guess I am getting a bit old, hehe. I really love to thank my readers for supporting my story, and I hope it would intrigue you guys more. I hope you'll help me improve by giving me some feedback, and inspire me more with some faves. So, enough with my blabbering, and let's get to the story.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11 - Call Down<strong>

_**The Candy Kingdom Town Square Remains 9:24 pm**_

"I'm falling..." Finn's eyes widened in shock as he saw the gigantic void located just below his human form, something that once housed the ancient colossus into infinite darkness. Fear gripped the injured human's soul, as the aura of death felt his spine, like a gust of heavy north winds howling beneath him. Little did he know that none can escape, none can tread of trek through this ethereal plane.

Somehow he knew that he wasn't going to live for long after falling into that thing, so his life finally showed all of his victories and mistakes from his 16 years of living, which made him smirk a little, for how he knew how foolish and immature he was back in the days. For some reason, the young lad accepted his fate, only to close both of the lids in his eyes and feel his last moments on the scorched earth he lived and thrived in.

He whispered to the sky as he clutched the newly crafted blade against his chest and uttered, "I guess I couldn't stay with you guys for longer. I'm sorry for your wasted efforts, Jake, Marcy, PB... And FP, I couldn't make things right between us... I guess there's no tomorrow for you and me. And Mom, Dad, see you there..." he gave out a smile after seeing the ghosts of his deceased foster parents hovering above his dying body.

"!" Right before he was about to be buried in clumps of candy rubble and eternal darkness, the young lad felt something clutch on to his legs. It was extremely fast, whatever that carried him away from the pit. And even though there's a chance that the thing carrying him and saving his life would actually be a man-eating beast that's about to feed him to her children, but for some reason, he felt so...calm. He could trust his savior even though he cannot have a chance to take a short glimpse at it.

As the hero studied the creature carefully, he knew who it was. That black fur, those enormous pair of wings that could barely blot the sun's light and those crimson red eyes that could belong to a predator in the night, it was no other than Marceline, the Vampire Queen in her demon bat form.

"What's up, hero?" the vampire greeted in a somewhat worried tone. Relieved and grateful, the hero couldn't help but thank her, "Thank you so much Marcy! I thought I was going to die back there." "Wow, you're so dramatic you know, murmuring those useless last words while falling and giving up so easily? Can't you even use your new sword for saving yourself? Are you even willing to give up your legacy as the hero who fell and never tried to save himself from the clutches of death? I've expected so much for you, you know that?"

The vampire's words made the hero fall into silence, only to make him think about his willingness to die without fulfilling his wishes and dreams. Marceline was right, and he knew it in his heart, that the vampire couldn't afford to let him go.

"I...didn't know what to do by that time. I'm sorry..." the hero uttered with a glint of guilt within his voice. "You're both thankful and apologetic. I thought you among all people would have a better reason to accept defeat. You're a hero, Finn. Heroes know what they're doing." after a moment of incomplete silence, only to be filled with the blasts of ice shards and wrecking buildings, the vampire finally landed on top of a roof of an house that was far away from the destruction zone.

"Marcy... why did you save me by that time?" Finn blurted out as he witnessed the vampire de-materialize into her normal form. "Look, do birds wonder why they fly?" she asked while puffing out the dirt from her ripped out jeans. "That's my reason. I couldn't just let someone important to us to just slip away from living, you know?" the vampire added.

The human blushed for a second, remembering the scene that they had back in the hospital, where her lips barely touched his during an emotional argument. Shaking his head, he took the blade and glanced at the ancient object, that was now covered in thick frost.

"What kind of thing we're dealing with here? it's just so...impossible to defeat." Finn pointed at it with his blade. "Yeah, and what's worse is that Bonnie has sets it into invulnerable mode." Marceline replied. "Invulnerable Mode?" the hero asked out of curiosity. "Yeah, invulnerable mode. I've been friends with Bonnie for a long time, so I know those different doohickeys she kept telling anyone about including me." "But how did you know about these things without her telling you?"

"I meddle with her stuff sometimes, and I've managed to find some weird blue prints about making another life form and other loads of crap. They were interesting somehow, and she once told me about making a huge super weapon that could defend her camp from any invaders and protect her people from any harm. " she answered plainly.

"So, you're meaning to say that..." "Yep, that's the super weapon. It's called the Giant. Bonnie made 2 of those things 900+ years ago, but the other one was destroyed, while that one over there was sealed in a pool of dark matter for some reason. Believe me, that thing could break down a whole kingdom. I guess the thing that controls it doesn't seem to have any knowledge operating this thing."

The young hero then asked her another question, since the curiosity within him started to invade his human brain. "How in the world do you know a lot about that thing?" "Well, this may sound so crazy... but I helped her make that thing. I was young, and bored, and stupid back then. And well... I gave her the brilliant idea to add the invulnerable mode...to it."

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><p>Princess Bubblegum quickly took out a small scroll from her pocket and unfolded it, only to reveal a small inscription on the ancient piece of paper that was encoded in Runic, an lost and forgotten language only to be used by magical purposes. She fell silent for a moment, in an attempt to help her remember the weak point she installed in it, just in case it gets into the dirty hands of others.<p>

"Hmm... I can't remember where in Ooo did I placed that thing. By that time, I was young and I craved perfection. I wanted that thing to be so strong, that none can break it. I think I made every part of that thing almost to the point of invincibility. No, everything has a weakness. I'll just have to look for a plan to subdue my very own masterpiece without breaking it, capture that young mage that's destroying my city and keep The Enchiridion in the kingdom's grasp were no one could ever find it. Yeah, that's the plan."

The princess muttered to herself as she continued to stare at the glowing scroll that was lying on top of the hospital table with her pink cellular phone just on top of it. She took the phone again and placed it against her ear, frantically phoning up Doctor Princess again, who's probably having a hard time hacking into the super weapon's hard drive system.

Since the doctor was too focused on taking it down through data, the phone remained ringing until it gradually gave up. Slightly frustrated, the princess remembered a moment in her long life that somehow made her feel safe in times of trouble. "Oh. I forgot about _them_. I completely forgot about _that_ incident, and _that_ deal. I remember it so clearly." The princess gently placed the phone down and took a deep breath, reminiscing the moments of her life, especially that very moment where she was being up close and personal with divinity.

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><p><strong><em>The Candy Kingdom Camp - 811 years ago<em>**

The young princess looked above the night sky, staring at the stars alone from her tent while clutching on a book that gives you an information about remembering your past lives. The princess didn't actually believe in such a ridiculous phenomenon, since she's more on the science than seemingly irrational ancient beliefs that originated back from several light years away from her time, but she was rather intrigued about it's concept.

"Am I really going to remember myself when I die? That's just... silly, I guess." the princess suddenly flipped open a random page from the tattered grimoire that unexpectedly changed her life at that very night. "How to have physical contact with your past lives? Wow, now that's funny." Princess Bubblegum giggled at the thought.

For the sake of fun, she did all the instructions encoded in the book and recorded it in a small piece of paper to prove if what she's seeing is real, since there are a few recording materials available in this post apocalyptic world. After a few moments of waiting, the princess gave out a large sigh and went into the tent in an melancholic way.

As she was about to rest her severely stressed and tired eyes, a small candy guard alerted her, looking very shocked and pale. "W-what's wrong little guy?" the princess said as she saw an orange glow just behind the poor little creature. "Chieftain! the village, it's been overrun by dragons!" the candy guard exclaimed as he raised his arms to the air to express his horror.

"Say what!? Did you guys do anything to stop them?" the princess asked. "We tried our best. Now the only chance for us to live is to run! there are lives at stake here, your highness!" the guard responded in detail. "Look, there are two reasons why we won't surrender. One:nobody's leaving tonight, and two: I'm going to fend them off with my laser guns just at the back!" the princess quickly took the seemingly futuristic guns and opened fire at the now burning camp.

"How dare thee?!" she bellowed as she aimed at the gigantic beasts that are preying on her people. She took down a bunch of dragons so easily, but unluckily, she was being attack from behind, only to cause her vision to black out.

Suddenly, the young princess finds herself in a place that's so similar to the cosmos, it intrigued her further more. "So, this is what the afterlife looks like." She spoke to herself, as her fairly childish and high pitched voice echoed through the beautiful atmosphere.

**"Amazing, isn't it?" **a beautiful and elegant looking woman approached her. Captivated by her appearance, the awestruck princess had a lot of questions in mind for her only companion in her "ethereal space". "Who are you, miss?" the princess asked. "Miss? tehee. I'm you, can't you remember? Or I guess not." the woman replied in a confusing sort of way.

"Me?" she pointed to herself in bewilderment. "Yeah. I'm The Galaxy Princess." the woman said as she waved her long, ebony-black, star studded hair, which floated in the air. "So, you're meaning to say that..." "Yeah, you're in your life vault." the Galaxy princess plainly stated. "A life vault? I haven't heard of such a thing." the princess replied as she raised a brow.

"Haha, well, that's what I call it, at least. It is a place where one soul stores the spirits of its various hosts, dumping it here and moving on to another form of life. It's the Saṃsāra Wheel. You're about to be reincarnated,girl." This remark made the young princess widen her eyes in shock.

"So, I'm already dead!?" Princess Bubblegum grieved. "Yeah, to put it bluntly. We all share the same soul too." the Galactic princess giggled. "It's no laughing matter! I have so much stuff left to do! I have to protect my people, I haven't finished fermenting my pet bean! And I haven't even tried to taste one of the royal tarts yet!" the immature princess quickly burst into tears.

The Galactic princess couldn't help but give out a sigh. "Oh well, if you cannot afford to die yet... I guess we'll find a way. Star Princess! Comet Princess! Someone needs our help!" she yelled into the deep space. Suddenly, two twins both dressed up in yellow and black gowns adorned with stars appeared in front of the two.

"Really? We're in the middle of a tea party but sure. What's the sitch?" the blonde teenager dressed in a yellow star studded gown asked. "Meet our latest reincarnation, Princess Bubblegum." the galactic royal introduced. "Wow. Another Princess huh? I guess our soul likes to posses some royals and whatever." a girl in a black gown blurted out as she continued to sip her cup of tea.

"Well, she doesn't like to die yet and spend the rest of her afterlife to chill out with us, so we'll do her a huge favor and bring her back to life. It's what friends do right?" the Galaxy princess added.

"Yeah. I guess we could at least get a glimpse of the new age." The Star princess then drew out a circle, creating a portal that transcends to the living world from the cosmic realm they dwell in.

"Hop on guys. Looks like this Alice is going home!" As the four figures jumped inside the loophole, they were automatically teleported to the last area where the young princess eventually got killed.

"My...camp..." the young and heart broken princess stared in shock as she looked at the scorched remains of her dwelling and her people. The other three ethereal princesses stared at her with pity in their hearts.

"So...you didn't want to die because you had something you want to protect?" The galaxy princess asked the weeping princess, who was now in her knees, wallowing in her own bittersweet tears.

"I...I didn't have the chance to protect them... I fell in one swoop and that's that... I'm such a fool!" she lamented in her guilt as she gently pounded her fists to the ground. "Don't blame yourself. We all get to our abrupt ends without accomplishing that one thing." the star princess patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

The Galaxy princess then followed, and suddenly flicked her forehead. "Hey! What're you doing GP? You're hurting her!" Comet princess scolded. "Since you've just died today, a single flick in the forehead is all that it takes to be alive. Come on. Don't cry and be strong. I'm sure your kingdom to be will flourish, and that will be your legacy." the galactic lass grasped both of the young princess' hands. "I'm actually proud of you, my dear. But there's nothing we can do, since we aren't gods, but there's just one thing we can do to help aside from reviving your people."

"We'll protect you and your kingdom at all costs. Just promise us that you'll call us at least once. We're waiting."

At that very moment, Princess Bubblegum had a cosmic connection to her various personas, who are still waiting to be called upon in times of danger. The stellar connection could be proven with the golden, runic seal tatooed behind her back. This was the appropriate time for them to get their wish. They are now her only hope to stop the monster she created, and to retrieve the book that somehow holds the fate of the entire universe.

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><p><em><strong>The Candy Kingdom Civilian Zone - Present Day<strong>_

"You what!?" Finn exclaimed. "Yeah, I know. I suck, I didn't know the consequences of my actions. So don't freak out." Marceline assured as she floated around the roof in a bored fashion. "Great. Now how're we supposed to stop it? I'm sure FP and Jake wouldn't even handle it. And I'm also pretty sure that PB's working on stopping it. It is her kingdom after all." The young hero complained. "I guess, if we cannot kill it, might as well better distract it for a while and trap it forever in something effective enough to handle it's power." the vampire suggested.

"That's it!" Finn's eyes widened. "What? Do you have anything in mind?" the vampire moved closer towards him. "Y-yeah. Since it's made of ice, FP could just unfreeze it with her powers, and Jake to just trip it's leg, causing it to fall into the pit from whence it came. You and I would just create a diversion for it to focus all of it's powers on us!" he explained.

"You know what? It actually could work. But we can't be so sure. That thing is really unpredictable." Marceline warned. "And are you so sure that you can risk your life again with that stubbed arm of yours?" she added. "Yeah. I don't care about this wound. Nothing can stop me from preventing the candy kingdom from destruction." Finn waved his stubbed arm in the process.

"You know, for some reason, I kinda feel that everything's going to be okay, once you've said it. You're pretty much some unique ray of hope, at least for me. " the vampire smiled. "But first, we'll have to find those two. We can't execute the plan without them, can we? Let's do this!" They both cheered, only to be interrupted by a loud bang coming from the night sky.

"What was that!?" Finn watched in horror as a extremely huge comet landed upon the giant, causing it to fall into the castle, breaking it in the process. "I think it looks like some kind of comet. Look's like my prayers have been answered."

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><p>As the giant meteor crashed towards the colossal beast with blinding speed, the ancient weapon fell with a thud, crushing everything behind it. The whole kingdom quaked in an temporary magnitude, causing some weakened structures to fall in it's prime. "Phew. That really hit him hard!" a high pitched voice remarked after jumping off it's huge form.<p>

"What in the world just happened there?" Jake questioned himself. **Oh crud. I forgot about Finn! I'll better find him before it's too late...** the magical dog thought to himself as he worries for his ever supportive brother. At the moment, the dog felt a surprisingly smooth hand patting him behind his back. "Don't worry you poor thing. We'll handle this. It is our duty after all." a voice assured. "W-who are you?" Jake asked in bewilderment. " I'm the Galaxy Princess, deal with it."

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><p><strong>Well, I guess this was a very long and important chapter. It was the longest one I've ever made so far. (Give this man an Oscar!) I hope you guys will like it, love it if you will, and I really hope it's worth all the waiting. Please don't forget to give a review, since that would help me write more. Yeah, I know reincarnation is an complex yet interesting topic, so since the creators added the concept of reincarnation in the series, (Such as Shoko and Finn, that is.) I couldn't just leave this out. This is SamuShark, and stay tuned. :) (What the...I did an emoticon. Oh my gosh, for the first time. What's wrong with me, seriously?)<strong>


	12. Chapter 12 - The Invictus

**Hey guys, It's me again, Samushark. I know the last chapter was way too long than usual, but I'm sure I could hit the mark again within this week of 3000+ words per chapter, probably, you know, time management, that is. Well, I'd like to thank you all for reading my stuff, I really appreciate it. Since we've just hit 10 faves, I think it's just about time to celebrate! Whoo-hoo! Well, I hope you guys would continue supporting and inspiring me through the way. Your reviews meant a lot to me, and I'm going to make my story more better than before. I am dedicated to draw you guys in. Anyhow, let's just go to the chapter, shall we? Happy reading!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12 - The Invictus<strong>

As the Giant finally paused after the critical, cranium bashing blow to the head, Marceline's eyes widened in an uncanny mix of shock and bewilderment. Wondering through her ancient yet free-spirited mind, the vampire couldn't even make up absolutely _anything_ powerful enough to penetrate the apocalyptic weapon's magically immune exterior.

"I just...couldn't think that 'random' meteor shower happened by some sort of lucky coincidence." The vampire blurted out as the thick, dusty breeze swept through her long and purely dark locks of hair. "What makes you think of it that way?" Finn glanced at her slender form with a perplexed look on his face. "Look, the Giant was about to breach the secondary civilian safety zones. But just before it could even lay in some punches, boom,_ that_ happened." the vampire explained.

The hero, after hearing this remark, couldn't help but give out a warm and hearty laugh. "What's so funny?" the vampire hissed. "Sorry...It's just that I couldn't believe that you're actually implying that someone actually threw that giant meteor on purpose." Finn pointed at the stunned weapon, which was now covered in chunks of candy rubble. "Well, that couldn't be possible. I guess the weapon probably weakened throughout the ages when it was securely sealed underground." the vampire pondered as she placed her fingers below her pale white lips.

"Probably so. But I'm meaning to ask you, are you okay? You look much more paler than ever." the young hero suddenly felt her soft cheeks, which were now flushed in a deep shade of crimson red. "Y-yeah. Cut it out with the smooth moves Finn. We're in the verge of calamity, remember? I'm the one who should ask you about your arm." the flushed vampire pointed at the blood stained gauze which was gently pressed against her cheek.

"Well, it's actually part of the hero's code to care about other people's medical handicaps other than yours." the hero smiled. "So...it's actually a fancy way of saying, 'I care about you', right?" **Oh Glob, what am I thinking?! **the vampire avoided the hero's innocent gaze out of sheer embarrassment. "Yeah. I guess it is my own little way of saying that simple sentence." the vampire suddenly fixed her gaze at the floor, just to hide those obvious signs of attraction.

"By the way, let's just catch up to FP and the others, just in case they needed our help on taking it down." the hero reminded as he swiftly swung his newly crafted blade to the air. "Yeah. Right. Flame Princess..." the vampire mumbled. "You...alright?" Finn asked with a concern tone of voice. "Yeah, I'm doing great. Let's just get this over with..."

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><p><strong>The Candy Kingdom, The Remains of the Primary Civilian Safety zones<strong>

The ever-blazing Flame Princess rushed into the seemingly disrupted scene, as the thick, late-evening breeze swept through her spontaneous and volatile form. The flaming lass' innocent gaze shifted unto the crippled weapon, which resulted her to feel a weird mix of opposite emotions, which are relief, and worry.

The thought of her dearly beloved never escaped her young and responsible mind. Of course, the fire elemental worries for her friends, but Finn was her top priority in terms of moral support. Yet for some reason, despite of them being broken apart due to some misunderstanding, she still loves him, yet she's repressing those feeling, believing it could cause her kingdom's downfall.

**I can't find them. **she thought to herself as she looked around, partially ignoring the hulking weapon for a brief moment. The giant didn't matter for now, her friends matter, and a mountain of candy rubble wouldn't stop her from looking for them. With her eyes 'watering' with her warm tears, she desperately searched through the toppled remains of the once great buildings as she left a blazing trail of fire everywhere she goes.

She took a quick look behind her, to find something glimmering in the translucent moonlight. Somehow, that small, glossy object felt so familiar to her, that she couldn't even resist the urge to pick it up with her unintentionally destructive arms. Her eyes widened in terror as she took a quick grab unto the object before it melted within her lethal grasp.

It was Finn's. It was the trinket she gave him during one of their dates. And to find it lying on the barren and scorched ground only gave birth to a lot of possible speculations. But there are two theories that never stopped haunting her conscience. One theory is that the trinket must've dropped from his bag, or, the hero died during the cataclysm.

The young fire elemental shook her head out of denial, hoping that the hero is still alive and breathing, despite of the lack of pure evidence about his recurring existence. "I know you're still alive, Finn. I could feel it." she whispered to the wind as she placed both of her hands to her chest, while still clutching onto the melted silver liquid that roughly stained her hands. The princess closed both of eyes and blushed a little, as her cheeks suddenly shown a light shade of pink,"And it feels so warm."

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><p>"Yeah. Erm, excuse me, but I've never met any princess with that title." Jake remarked as he scratched his thick scalp, in an attempt to recall, that is. But for reasons yet known, this remark had made the galactic princess feel a little special. "Good, now you can add me in one of those princess' list of yours." she smirked.<p>

Just before the magical dog would spit out a simple word, the hulking mass of destruction regained it's lost strength and slowly stood up, shocking him of a moment. "Oh my Glob! There's no time for 'princess adding' here! Let's just get the heck outta here!" the dog exclaimed as he grabbed the lass' hand with lightning speed.

"Cut it out, I'm not supposed to go anywhere anyway..." GP quickly let go of Jake's hand, which further perplexed him. "Are you mad, woman!? That thing here is probably much more stronger than you." he yelled.

" 'Probably'." "What?" "You've just said 'probably', so that means there's a chance for me to surpass its strength, right?" the galactic lass added. "Yeah, but..." " Don't worry. We won't disappoint you." In a sudden flash, the weapon aimed for the lass with it's magically modified frost cannon with great haste, causing the scared, magical dog to freak out even more.

Despite of the great damage that apocalyptic orb could cause, The galactic lass planted both of her feet onto the barren, rubble filled ground beneath her, as she showed no signs of attempted evasion and fear from the cataclysmic structure, which was now just a few feet away from where she's standing.

"Yup! You're definitely going bonkers! Let's go get you to a safer place! You can't be serious in fighting that thing!" Jake shivered at the thought. "This might sound odd, but... mind if you'll trust me for a moment? Please, just put all your burdens on my shoulders. If there's anyone worthy of escaping this place, and that would be you. Just don't prevent me from doing my only goal. I'm begging you." the galactic lass pleaded in a calm and collected way. "Now go."

Shortly after, the bewildered dog quickly sprinted away to the opposite direction with feelings remorse and guilt lingering behind his back. "Fine! And I'm only doing this 'cuz you wanted me to!" he yelled at the distance.

"I'm counting on you, Star Princess." She whispered as she gave out a mischievous giggle, completely ignoring the fleeing dog in the process. A small yet blinding form of light emerged from her chest, which shone a luster glow of pure white. Shortly after, the Giant finally hurled its highly dense frost orb towards her, destroying absolutely everything obstructing it's path.

But just before the destructive product of frost magic could even tough the galactic royal, a strange yet intriguing thing happened.

The seemingly massive orb completely vanished into thin air.

"Hmph. Don't you ever underestimate the heavens. Feel my might!" the galactic princess bellowed as a small, cosmic beam slowly formed into a intimidating, yet destructive lance. Without a glint of mercy in her eyes, she swiftly hurled the volatile and dangerous lance at the ancient golem, breaking it's leg in the process of piercing it's aged, yet great exterior.

The Star Princess, in her star form, suddenly morphed into a huge portal that actually hurled the same frost beam that attempted to obliterate them in the first place. The orb managed to land in some very critical hits to the weapon, freezing both it's legs and torso to boot. "Comet! Now's your chance!" the stellar lass called out to her darker twin, who was actually watching the battle from a far in captivation.

"Well, I guess I'll manage to shock the world with my powers again." the lass in the black gown stood up lazily and quickly morphed into a raging meteor, hurling herself at the immobile giant's head, removing it due to the great impact it caused.

The whole kingdom once again shifted into utter silence, as the ground once again, shook more than just the kingdom itself, but to all of Ooo.

"Give it up. You can't fight us forever, can you? Without a head, perhaps?" GP taunted. "Give it up." she added. As the galactic lass uttered those words, Elsa emerged from the stump of the weapon's decapitated body, fully dressed in a pure white gown while holding on to The Enchiridion, pressing the book against her chest. "Go ahead, destroy me and you'll destroy this along with myself..." the mage waved the important manual in a left and right direction.

"You've got to be kidding me." **I'm sorry PB, but this fight's going to take a while.**

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><p><strong>Well, first of all, I'm really sorry that the number of words didn't reach the exact goal I'm trying to achieve, but I'm glad I was able to ease your waiting by updating it as soon as I'm available. Anyhow, I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and I really hope that you'll give me some reviews and some precious feedback, just In case there's something you wanted to see in the next chapter. I've gotten the idea of Star Princess' magic-absorbing-abilities by the concept of a black hole, just in case you're wondering. The decision intensifies, will the cosmic princess' let her go, or destroy Elsa along with the gravely important codex in her arms which is the Enchiridion? And will Finn and the gang arrive on time before anything gets out of hand? Find out in the next chapter of Castles of Glass. Peace out. <strong>


	13. Chapter 13 - The Clockwork

**Hey guys, I know it has been roughly a week, and I'm sure most of you guys are itching to see what would be the outcome of this standoff between a super powerful mage, and three intergalactic princesses, and I'll have to assure to you guys, you won't be disappointed. I've been reading a lot of decent novels lately, and I'm now currently on a major book hunt for John Green's Paper Towns. Well, I've already read The Fault in our Stars, so yeah. Well then, I guess it's time for me to get on with the story. Oh, and could you guys do me an simple favor? could please give me a review, or perhaps a fave if you like it? That would mean so much to me. Anyways, Happy Reading!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13 - The Clockwork<strong>

For a couple of silent moments, the tension between the four figures worsened, in a struggle to read and analyze each other's possible movements. For the three intergalactic princesses? Making the first move has most of it's risks. The valid reasons? One, the opponent would be able to formulate a strategic advantage against them if they'll lay in the first punches. And Two, one powerful blow from even the smallest galactic lance would disintegrate the book and it's valuable contents encrypted into it.

"Hmm? Don't tell me you guys have no idea what to do next...?" Elsa ran her feminine hand through her silky locks of snow-white hair as she glanced at them, clueless of what they're really capable of. "Don't fret. Let us break the stiff ice between us, shall we?" the young mage gave out a sadistic grin as the luster blue runes rapidly danced around her left arm. Comet Princess and her stellar twin sister braced themselves for an upcoming attack, while the galactic princess remained calm and collected with another galactic lance in hand.

"It is not best to rush things. Are you even thinking about the outcome when you'll hurl in one of those lethal orbs at us? Think again. And I'm giving you a chance, young lady." The galactic royal reasoned as she shrugged, probably some gesture to provoke the immature mage somehow. "A-are you even taking me seriously?" the mage scoffed, making the gesture work in it's most effective. **Hmph. I knew that the shrug would take her guard down somehow. Now she's lessening her grip on the book. I guess I'll have to distract her more. **GP thought as she carefully observed the mage's every move.

"What do you think you're doing, GP? You're just making the situation worse!" CP growled as the Star Princess gently held her back, clutching her arm in the process. "Can't you see that she's up to something? Take a look at the book..." the stellar lass whispered as their gazes slowly glanced at the loosely sandwiched book. "Oh, yeah. Right." shortly after, Comet princess gently pushed her sister and heightened her guard, just in case the situation would get much more cataclysmic than expected. "Me? Taking you seriously? Well, you did a really good job on piloting that...thing over there. It only took us a couple of minutes to take you down." GP bragged as she pointed at the decapitated weapon she's standing on.

"A couple of minutes... a couple of minutes." the mage murmured as the runes spun horribly fast around her, giving in a anonymously enigmatic shine to it. "Well, brag all you want. I was just playing with you guys earlier." the mage's eyes glowed in anger. "But now? If you wan't this?" she trailed off as she pointed at the book, "You won't get it. That will never happen."

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you? Think about it! Look at the vast damage you've caused in this Kingdom! Think about the innocent blood you've shed. It's best to just end this once and for all, and there will be no complications!" the galactic royal yelled. "If it involves my father's justice... I would _never_ hand anything precious to him to a bunch of tyrants like you!" the runes suddenly shot up into the sky, creating a small portal that ripped the heavens apart and also captivated the masses of Ooo with it's luster blue shade.

" You all don't understand the pain... the sacrifice and the abandonment I've endured for all this time! They all wanted the book! They wanted the power! And now I'm the one who's being treated like a villain... that's just so...unfair!" the mage's eyes teared up a little, with a hint of sniffling within her tone of voice."Thank's to this pathetic book, I've realized that there's absolutely no one else in this world that would truly love you with all their heart!"

Suddenly, Elsa's watery eyes shone a luster bright blue, with enormous pillars of magic ice sprouting from the weapon, engulfing her in the process. **Oh my... Those runes look deathly familiar... Is she... sealing herself away? **the dumbstruck princess quickly shook her head, and hurled the lance at the thick and craggy ice, breaking a large portion of it.

"We cannot let you escape and ravage Ooo with your powers." GP bellowed as her pure-black irises focused on the emotional mage's. "It's too late..." the young lass muttered under her shortness of breath. "What do you mean?" The stellar princess interrogated. "There is a reason why I'm covering myself with layers of my magic..." the lass continued. "Nidhogg will ravage this land until there is no one left standing."

The earth shook once again, but this time, the magnitude was strong enough to cut through kingdoms and break through 50 meter walls. A thundering cry could be heard from the raging heavens and an ominous gale swept through the whole land. the portal widened ever so slightly, revealing a heart-stopping reptilian figure hovering through the skies, bathed in frost and light.

Fear has finally gripped into the hearts of the three, seemingly invincible royals, as they've continued to glance at the apocalyptic figure that was about to send in their doom. "We'll have to deal with you later." Comet princess swiftly pushed the mage away in her disgust. "But first, we'll just take that thing down first, shall we?" the feisty princess added. "Nidhogg? One of the seven sacred dragons? You've got to be kidding me." SP facepalmed to her disdain. "We wouldn't stand a chance against that thing."

"What make's you say that, Star princess? I'm sure the three of us couldn't beat that thing on our own. But, I know someone who's capable of doing such thing. You'll probably know him from those old legends." Galaxy Princess asked. "And who is that exactly?" CP growled. "None other than The Clockwork."

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><p>In amidst of the stifling gears and bolts of different sizes that go "clunk" every second, little, somewhat robotic, geared creatures scuttled across the bronze floor that eventually reflected their stubby legs. "Another order from the World Council!" a small and decisive courier cried out as it carefully dropped it's precious cargo to a drawing table filled with various blueprints of various projects in mind. A certainly young looking, red haired lad slowly crept out of the table and mumbled and groaned, for a letter from the council could be a sign of more work, the same thing he's done for the past few centuries.<p>

"Hm." the lad suddenly raised his clenched fist to the air and swore to the metallic, geared ceiling above him. "There will come a time that Caleb Clocksmith would out rule this damn council and further innovate the world with my genius!" he gave out a hearty chuckle after that. "Well, that's definitely not going to happen. Oh well, back to real life, I suppose." he mumbled yet again as he quickly unfolded the letter.

Caleb Clocksmith was known by the land as The Legendary Clockwork, a miraculous engineer that could even bring inanimate objects life. He was indeed a member of the World Council, but after the war, the organization became inactive. The engineer was now a simple trinket to the ancient alliance, and he obviously hated it. He hated the fact that he's just making toys for the council men's children, and most of all, he hated the fact that he has never been taken seriously due to his zany ability to make a simple bottle cap to have legs.

But for some reason, his metallic, clock-esque eyes widened in shock and excitement, which was pretty much a standard mix of vibrant emotions. "Ooo almighty, would you look at that... this is exactly what I've been waiting for!"

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><p><strong>Well, I guess that concludes chapter 13. I know, Finn and the gang aren't mentioned here, and the going gets more though, since an ancient beast was used as a last resort to end the conflict once and for all. I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and please, A review and a fave would do so much than you can ever imagine. Since it's almost summer time, the once in a week schedule would be increased to thrice a week during the month of April to June, since I'm not yet busy by the time. So, this is Samushark, and see you in the next chapter.<strong>


	14. Chapter 14 - 20 Minutes

**So... I guess I've kinda overdid the action so much? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did. Well, I'll pretty much updated it so much sooner, just to reel you guys into my story, and for those who kept of reading it despite of the long wait, thank you. And first of all, I'd like to apologize. I was so busy, the school week's tiring, and it's pretty much in the middle of my school's annual final achievement test. I'd have to admit, the test was crazy, I didn't study, and I was too carried away on waiting for Summer Vacation to come, where I could relax, write frequently, and most importantly, update frequently. So, The Elsa Invasion Arc is about to reach it's climax. An ancient dragon summoned to destroy the kingdom, the three cosmic beings joining hands to take down another threat, andour heroes are having a hard time reaching each other. And will Marceline keep these feelings hidden inside forever? That's pretty much a short preview, to be honest. Well , I hope you guys will give me more feedback to support me, and I am of great service for entertaining your thoughts. And once again, enjoy the chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14 - 20 Minutes<strong>

The night sky had temporarily lost all of it's brightness, only to be illuminated by not the moon itself, but by the heavenly worm hole that continued to hover above the wrecked kingdom. Marveling before the portal stood the three intergalactic beings, armed with their various weapons of war, probably forged within the astral hearth of the ethereal planes. The mage had lain down on the barren, merciless ground, exhausted of the magical abuse of her powers.

"This wouldn't have come to this if you didn't do such a reckless move. Now look at yourself, you're exhausted. You can barely move, and now, you cannot assure your very own safety once that dragon of yours would go thrashing about, and you'll just end up being the victim of your own spell." The galactic princess said as she continued to stare at the severely tired figure below her. "But don't worry. We'll take care of this, you'll just sit right there until we'll actually deal with you later."

"If... I were you... I wouldn't babble about my mistakes." the young mage said as she struggled to utter the sentence, with all the blood pouring from the inside of her mouth which slightly muffled her perception of speech. "Trust me, you wouldn't gain anything if you'd still refuse to listen to us." the stellar lass advised, sympathizing the lass' critical condition. "I... am my own...army..." Elsa trailed off as she struggled to get on her feet, with the blood finally flowing like a river from her lips. "And I'm definitely going to escape this place in one piece!" she said with determination present in her tone.

"I doubt that. I guess someone like you should just cease to exist in the first place!" Comet Princess growled at the bleeding mage as she attempted to bash her currently weak skull with her ethereal mace. Soon enough, she was stopped by none other than her sister, clutching her arm tightly. "I cannot let you do this. We didn't escape the wheel for this." Star Princess shook her head in disappointment. "But she's the enemy! Monsters that abuse their own powers for destruction aren't worthy to tread in this world!" the aggressive royal yelled in anger and confusion.

"But, she's just a confused teenager, whose soaked up by the evils of reality." the stellar princess reasoned. "Stop defending me... do it. Do what you want! I don't even care about anything anymore!" the lass yelled hoarsely. "Sometimes...we'll have to bring the unworthy back to the Nightosphere!" the comet princess unseathed her extra blade and aimed it at the helpless figure. "But... I'm taking you with me!" with the blade barely cutting her skin, several runes rapidly orbited around her bleeding form, breaking the blade, and sending the aggressive lass flying.

"What the-" the bewildered princess landed on a tower, with the rubble burying her alive. "That spell..." "Yes. It's none other than a powerful "last resort" spell." the galactic princess explained in a cold and unemotional tone. "I couldn't even read the runes. And when you get to form those syllables together, it just... doesn't make sense." the stellar lass said, with a glint of concern shown in her face.

"That's what it is. A powerful spell that even the most skilled wizard couldn't deflect or read. Fate Reader, the spell that gives you the power to change the outcome of a battle. But it comes with a price..." the galactic royal trailed off, hesitant to even mention the cost. "And what would it be?" the stellar lass asked in an inquisitive manner. "Your perception of sight. By the time the spell weakens, it takes away your vision, since the world of the Wisps shouldn't be seen by the living eye."

"That's right." the mage suddenly butted into the conversation, now all healed up by the various effects of the spell. "You may now have the power of a god, but can you just risk everything your father wanted you to do?" the galactic lass interrogated. "You may think I'm going to use this power against you, but I'm not that stupid." the mage reasoned calmly. "But of course, I cannot let anyone get in the way of my bondage from this land." the young lass quickly conjured up an ice spike, which suddenly sprouted up from the cold ground. "A simple weapon like this couldn't miss at this moment. I could end all of your lives in an instant." she threatened.

"Go ahead. But rest assured. You're just wasting your time." the galactic lass grinned. "Now this is an outcome I want to change." the mage threw the spike at her, only to be dodged easily by the cosmic royal. "Get real." she blurted out, insulting the young lass. "I guess you should look at your front." the mage sassed. Sure enough, there was a throbbing pain on her chest that felt wet, and cold. The galactic lass stood there in shock, fixing her gaze at the ice spike that she dodged seconds earlier, only to stab her in the chest eventually.

"You're good." She said as she took the weapon off her chest. "It'll take a dozen of those to actually pierce my skin." The galactic royal then raised her right arm, forming another lance that seemed to look more bulky than the usual ones. "I don't know if you'll actually change the fate of this baby."

With the weapon eventually flying towards the young lass, Elsa remained calm. Disturbingly calm. Naturally, you would try to dodge the weapon that could eventually obliterate you, but with the effects of the Fate Reader spell still present within her, it could be changed, whether the lance would either fade away or miss you.

Eventually, the lance faded with ease. "That's it?" the mage chuckled. "I guess not. Can you alter the fates of all of these?" the galactic lass smirked, as dozens of lances dispersed around the mage, aiming directly at her. **Oh crud. Not only that she knows the effect of the spell itself, but also it's weakness. I should lay it low and not rely on the power at this instant. **the mage thought, covering herself in layers of magic ice.

"I guess she could not afford to use most of it's charges." The galactic princess blurted out. "Charges?" the stellar lass quickly shifted her gaze at her interested in the term used. "Yes. The only weakness to this powerful spell it the amount of times it should be used. See that number written on her neck?" the cosmic lass pointed at the mark, that was shown only by the small gap in the shell. "20." she noted. "that's the number of times she could actually use. If she'll abuse the power too much, she would soon be blind, and dead." she added.

The lances quickly pierced through the iced shell, cutting it and shattering it into a thousand pieces, until it reduced itself into snow. "Tsk. Looks like she's escaped. She now has 19 charges left." the galactic lass noted. "She could be anywhere. But, more importantly, she could use it to bring in the dragon!" Star Princess rattled as she pointed to the open sky, filled with the repetitive roars of the beast. "No, that would be risky. 19 charges wouldn't be enough for speeding up the process of summoning a heavenly beast." Galaxy Princess concluded.

"Tell me exactly... how did you know a lot about it?" curiosity suddenly flooded within the stellar princess. The galactic royal couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. "Fine, I used it once."

Shocked, the stellar lass couldn't help but gasp. "It was a long time ago. Now it doesn't matter. What matters is your sister over there." she pointed at the rubble, which was just a few meters from where she's actually standing. "It seems that you've already know my weakness." the mage suddenly appeared, all bruised and scarred, with her gown ripped off by the lances when she teleported herself out of her defensive shell. "But I'd have to admit. You almost got me." she scoffed. The galactic lass fixed her gaze at the mark, which has now changed into the number "13".

"Why are your charges reduced to 13? Tell me, what have you done with the other five?" she asked, with a serious tone present within her elegant voice. "Simple. I've reduced the summoning time to 20 minutes. So, meaning to say... that you've only got 20 minutes left until it finally takes flight." the young mage said, as she wiped the trail of blood flowing out of her mouth.

**That wench! She's just going to use it to make things harder for us. We've got to find a way to pacify her for a while, before the real threat would come raining down on us. **GP thought as she took a quick glance at the portal, with a glint of anger present within her. "Star Princess." she called out to the confused stellar lass, who's now standing there, dumbfounded. "Y-yes?" she stuttered, startled by the sudden calling. "Get Comet. The two of you will prevent the rising of the Nidhogg. There's no time to waste. I'll deal with this Fate Reader over here." she commanded. "I'll get to it." the stellar lass assured as she quickly teleported in her star form.

"I'm counting on you two. Well then, Elsa. Let's finish what you've started." GP challenged, pointing her cosmic Halberd at the fate reading mage. "Bring it on."

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><p>"Wowzers. I guess PB has called in some of her alien friends!" Finn the Human commented as he gazed at the peculiar yet captivating blue portal, which was etched up in the mystical night sky. <strong>It feels so...different. <strong>Marceline thought as her petite guts churned out of unease. "Alien friends? Finn, I'd hate to break it to you, but Bonnie actually dissects them. So if it's aliens you're talking about, that's definitely out of the question." she blurted out in the open.

"Really? Well, I couldn't really think about anything that involves huge portals in the sky, that is." The hero shrugged out of his cluelessness. "I couldn't blame you." The vampire gave out that blushy grin she seldom wears. The hero stood in the middle of the barren area, looking at the cracks below them. "Strange." he blurted out crouching down to take a closer look at it. "I swear, it wasn't there a minute ago." he continued, tethering their gazes at each other.

After a moment, the slightly flustered vampire answered, "Those keen eyes of yours must've been something I thought you've lacked. But I guess I was wrong." Finn gave out a slight chuckle, unable to contain his joy. "Thanks! I guess I'm not the dorky guy you've always saw in me." he let out that goofy grin. "Idiot..." the vampire smiled a little. "By the way, let's get going. We can't assure that our little friends are alive at these conditions."**  
><strong>

The vampire pointed at their chaotic surroundings filled with not the typical chaotic fires that usually blended in amongst the rubble, but with the eerie sound of the wind, howling about in the open area, which was producing human like wails, accompanied by the vast ice crystals that literally decorated the place like a bunch of gravestones sprouting from the cold soil.

The human, slightly unnerved, clutched is fused blade tightly, just in case something would suddenly pounce out and assault him. "Finn, are you-" before the worried vampire would even finish her sentence, the earth abruptly shook into an ear shocking magnitude, tripping the two figures and toppling the abandoned houses in the process.

"Holy-" before the hero would even rant about the recent earthquake, the vampire quickly covered his mouth with her hand, leaning closer to him. "J-just...stop screaming and listen." the vampire quickly paused for a minute, with her pointed ears twitching about just like a rabbit's. Despite of the enhanced sense of hearing, she couldn't actually believe what she's actually hearing from the distance. "Marcy?" the young lad called out with his tone muffled , worred about the uneasy look on her pale, yet beautiful face.

"Yeah. I just couldn't believe on what I'm actually hearing." The vampire quickly uncapped his mouth. "And what would that be?" he asked, curiously. "A dragon, Finn." the vampire responded. "A deadly one."

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><p><strong>Well, another powerful edition to Elsa's magical arsenal, that's what I'm saying. With the powerful yet charge manipulated spell on her grasp, will the Galaxy Princess find a way to undo the disaster the mage has caused? Yes, I've kinda made her a bit twisted, due to all of the losses she has on her unwritten journey throughout the land of Ooo with the Enchiridion. But rest assured, Elsa's fate is going to be determined in the next chapter. And to those who're reading this and mistakening this as a crossover between AT and Frozen, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but the Elsa I'm making is kinda based off her, not placing the actual Elsa from the movie to a completely unrelated universe where the kingdom of Arendelle doesn't exist. Plus, their personalities differ, I guess that could clear things out. :) Well, to put that aside, I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and please, tell me what would you think will happen in the next chapter in the review section below. Peace out, and brace yourselves, Summer is Coming!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15 - To End a Child's Nightmare

**Hey guys. I've been doing a lot about my research about dragons. (Other than that, I've been reading my daily dose of Nisekoi. Trust me, the story keeps you hooked.) And well, I've stumbled across a lot of worthy dragons that could be part of the Sacred Seven, and to be honest, it'll be a hard time for me to choose, since some of them are completely unrelated to each other. Well, you guys might think that there are a lot of god-like entities appearing throughout the story, so I guess you'll find out all about it in this chapter. Finally, The Elsa Invasion Arc will be finished by the next chapter. Will they fail? or will the cosmic princess' succeed in defending the kingdom that their incarnation held dear? Let's find out. And P.S. A review would be awesome, and please share in some of your thoughts about it, it would be very much appreciated! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 15 - To End a Child's Nightmare part 1<strong>

Within one night, scars were made, blood was splattered across the cold earth, and the uttermost essence of magic was scattered across the air. The mage and the galactic royal were fighting mercilessly as the other two star-crossed twins have regained their power to prevent the very terror that is once called, "The Nidhogg".

With a flash, after a seemingly endless barrage of cosmic weapons and ice shields, the mage quickly used up 1/4th of her remaining magical essence, spamming up a lot of weak, disabling spells that actually annoyed the galactic lass, in an attempt to utterly stall her.

**What's up with her? She's always the type that conjures up powerful spells against her enemies, making her easily readable when it comes to battle tactics... **The galactic lass thought as she continued to dodge the small array of magic spells aiming directly at her. Observing the young individual, realization had finally came to the royal's mind like a flash of lightning.

**Wait, if my Halberd absorbs magic, then I've kinda reduced her magical usage greatly. I guess the remaining amount of magical energy left within her are only able to conjure up weak, student-wizard leveled skills. I guess, even a powerful mage like her wouldn't stand a chance against pure anti-magic. **she scoffed at the thought, clutching the pitch black black tightly.

**Good. Looks like I'm able to stall her by letting her dodge my weak-leveled attacks. If this keeps up, I'll manage to regenerate my energy to regain my charges using _that _spell. **Elsa thought as she mercilessly aimed at the royal like a hunter going all out on a rat.

**Even though she's just like any old mage, I couldn't assure her predictability. I won't let my guard down at all costs. **Her prized Halberd was the only thing that kept her going, due to it's magic nullification powers, it acted like an umbrella, since the weak spells would just die out by it's presence alone. "Look's like you didn't use your remaining charges." she pointed out, seeing that the charges still remained into the number "13" etched on her neck. "What're you planning to do?" she added, fearing that the mage would actually use it to abruptly summon the beast.

"Oh, nothing. I wouldn't just use it so quickly." the young mage said as she continued to open fire. "But rather... use it at the right time." the galactic royal took a quick glance at the sisters, only to see them spamming a lot of powerful specialties that could result into a powerful fireworks display. "Give it up already." in a quick flash, the mage's runes suddenly died off, falling down on the cold ground like a bunch of dying fireflies.

With the Halberd just inches away from her neck, the mage couldn't help but stop moving, but to look at the galactic royal, who now has the life of the young lass at her hands. "You know, by that time you said that you could end our lives at an instant? I really find it kinda funny, knowing that I'm the one who could let my blade slit your throat at any moment." she taunted, moving the blade closer until the mage finally stopped moving every inch of her body, aside from her eyes, who were now deeply focused on the blade that could kill her physically unless she uses at least one charge of the fate reader spell to change the outcome of her humiliating and gruesome death that was about to happen.

Filled with disdain and with the struggle to stay alive, the mage gave out a grin and said, "Alright. You've got me. But... I could still use it to escape, not that I'll do it, that is..." Tethering their gazes at each other, the mage's left eye was also focused upon the portal that was about to release the demonic beast.

"If you'll kill me right now... it still wouldn't change the fact that the Nidhogg's summoning portal cannot be stopped. The Fate Reader spell cannot be nullified by your weapon, and it doesn't require the use my magical essence...but...the souls of the wisps."

"You're getting weaker and weaker by the moment. Anything could be stopped, especially your attempt to create the end of days during your attempt to escape. You're already good as blind, and the spell automatically wears off as soon as you've lost consciousness. Call it off, do something useful for a change." she advised, still pointing the edge of the blade towards her neck. "As if I'm going to do such a thing." the mage laughed weakly, as a trail of blood oozed out of her mouth.

GP's eyes widened after looking at the mark on her neck, which had slowly changed into the mark that she feared. "0". She finally used up ten of her charges on doing the most devious act that made the problem a hundred times worse.

By prematurely summoning the Nidhogg.

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><p>Darkness has finally eclipsed the portal, and the scent of rotten corpses filled the once scentless air, making it feel like an open graveyard filled with the lifeless bodies of the misfortunate. Terror has finally gripped three princesses, who had tried their very best... but had ended up to fail very miserably. "It's already here, and there's nothing you guys can do about it."<p>

Through the murky air, you could see a towering mass of ancient reptilian perched on top of the remains of the Candy Kingdom Castle, with it's giant, black wing's covering the structure, tainting the candy by it's foul presence. Every inch of it's body was covered in runes that signify death, disease, malice, possibly all of the foul stuff that this world currently bears. It's eyes seemed lifeless with a shade of dull grey invading it, yet gazing upon this creature would feel like you're actually going to die.

It's tail, which hung from behind the castle looked withered, burnt like that of a tree's roots after an devious act of arson. The creature, filled with malice, suddenly fired up a black orb that desecrated the grounds, knocking the stellar twins unconscious.

"So...the legends were..." the galactic royal bit her lip out of her frustration and worry for her cosmic companions. "It's...over." the mage uttered as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness, dropping into the arms of the royal. "No it's not. You're wrong until the very end of this battle, Elsa." she muttered as she placed her unconscious body next to a nearby tree next to the remains of a Candy Corn Jet nearby. "There's always something that could solve a problem as big as this. You're indeed young. But you shouldn't make such awful assumptions..." She said as she witnessed her companions, fighting against the malice breathing demon to no avail.

Tears fell through her cheeks, clutching the Halberd tightly as she faced the very abomination that caused all of their problems. Cosmic Runes orbited around her form rapidly, as an aura of revenge eclipsed the stench that's seemingly unavoidable.

"I'll have to give it my all...to end a lost child's nightmare!"

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><p>Filled with disgust and confusion, Princess Bubblegum swiftly rushed out of the local hospital, carrying a half filled flask on her left hand in a lab coat. Wheezing and coughing from the foul fragrance that's literally attacking her nose, the princess closed her eyes and prayed for her dearest friend's safety from the supernatural calamities that has occurred in the remains of her kingdom.<p>

**What's going on!? First off, I've lost contact with Dr. Princess earlier, then the energy radars that's used to track my past lives and the giant suddenly shot up so suddenly, breaking it in the process. And now, the hospital is literally melting from a scent that I cannot explain. **the pink princess thought as she took a quick glance at the flask she's delicately holding.

**Good thing they've bought me some time to make this formula. I hope Finn and the others are safe. I'll have to reunite with them as soon as I can! **after a long moment of thought, she had bumped into another running figure. "Oof!" she squeaked as she looked up to whoever she has bumped into. "Peebles?" Finn called out to her, with his tone dressed with relief and worry.

"Finn? Finn!" the princess embraced the young hero tightly, making him flustered as usual. "Peebles! I'm so glad you're safe!" he hugged her back calmly. "I was so scared. All those earthquakes, blasts, and the one that flashed in just a few minutes ago made me think that you guys are already-"

"Dead?" another voice interrupted from nowhere. "Marceline?" PB asked as the vampire slowly stepped out of the brown mist. "Yeah, Bonnie. It's me." she smirked a little, despite of all the crazy thing's they've been through with Finn. "I know, those flashes and blasts that are coming from your place are pretty scary. Well, since you're here, we'll have to look for Jake and Flame Princess..." the vampire trailed off a little.

"Wait... what? did you just say...F-flame Princess? This is bad..." the shaking princess exclaimed, confusing Finn a little. "PB's? Is there... something wrong with Flame Princess?" the young hero looked at her with concern. "Y-yes!...uh..." she stammered as she looked into the hero's pupils. "Tell me, princess, so that I could understand why..." he requested rather calmly. Just to break out the ice, the vampire has decided to take on Finn's side.

"Bonnie, the little dude needs to find his answer." she muttered. "Fine. I'll tell you the core reason why she got locked in the first place."

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><p>"Finn! Marcy! Princess Bubblegum! Whoo-hoo! We're here!" Jake screamed amidst the shaking disasters that haunted the kingdom. "Jake, it's no use. We can't find them so easily..." Flame Princess sighed out of her disdain, feeling a grunting pain in her stomach. "Uh...FP? Are you okay? It seems like you're in the middle of some lethal stomach ache." the concerned dog asked, lending her one of his emergency meds that where sandwiched between his pits.<p>

"T-thanks...Jake." the girl of fire reluctantly reached for the medical pill, only to burn it in an instant of touching her volatile skin. Dumbfounded, she started to tear up a little. "Why...? Why can't I touch something without turning it into ashes?" she said, as the she slowly gazed at the withered grits of ash that has slowly faded into the wind. "I've continued to hurt all of the people I love...why does this even happen!? Now I'm separated from Finn... and he might be dead by now..." she sobbed bitterly, slowly melting the rotten candy pillar she's currently sitting on. "Don't say that, hot stuff." Jake said, with a glint of determination present in his tone of speech.

"Finn's alive and so are the others. I know, it's been a rough year since you guys have split up, and things have gotten well. But I know you still love Finn. I can't determine it yet, since I'm not you. But, if you're mourning for Finn in advance? You're just wastin' your tears, girl." those words have stricken the lass' heart so quickly, getting her attention.

"Jake... I..." "I know. Just put your faith in him, and everything's going to be all peachy in the end!" the dog gave out a huge, warm smile, cheering the flaming lass up. "Yeah... you're definitely right, Jake... ugh!" the young lass grunted, due to an un-explainable pain she felt on her chest, causing the magical dog to worry. "Hang in there!" Jake yelled, knowing that there's nothing else he could do to help her, since the use of common medicine was the full extent of his aid, aside from offensive prowess, that is.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just that there's something in this fog that makes me feel...weird!" the fiery lass explained, clutching her chest as hard as possible, with small drops of magma leaking outside of her blazing form.

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><p>"The reason why I've placed her in that lamp a long time ago...wasn't just the extreme romance complex within her volatile structure... But, it has something to do with the intense power that we've all felt at this very moment." the pink royal dusted her lab coat as she slowly handed the tubular glass flask to the young hero, perplexing him further.<p>

"What's this? Wait, is that what I think it is?" Finn stared at the royal intently, looking very intense, probably for the strong and lingering love he still has for the ruler of flames. "No. This is the formula that could temporarily remove even the most strongest layers of magic, along with anything within the magical boarder. And for the sake of simplicity, it's an atomic liquid that could strip you off of your powers." Princess Bubblegum explained, shedding the light to the hero's rather rash style of thinking.

"Wait, so you're telling me, that I'll have to pour this on FP?" Finn raised his voice. "I-It's the only way. Trust me, with her Elemental Matrix nullified, it would lessen the risk of her dying. She has a special type of flame that composed every inch of her body, and for it being exposed to such massive power would just burn it off. And according to my calculations... the aura...absorbs your energy..." the pink ruler trailed off, as the inner strength within her gradually lowered.

"Finn. I have this strange feeling that the dragon I've heard earlier is causing this, but it's power seemed to be amplified by a catalyst, not far from here." Marceline said as she rushed in to assist the princess. "I can't. I can't just douse her out, it would just weaken her. And without her flames, she'll..." "And the strong magic that is sucking our energy right now would eventually kill her. So, she'll be dead either way." the vampire added calmly.

"I can't let that happen." Finn said, looking at the liquid contents of the flask. "Finn! We can't let your ignorance kill us all. I'm sorry, but...it's for the good of the world!" PB said, trying to knock some sense into him. "What happens...If I drink it?" the hero said as he placed the flask below his lip. "The formula would certainly fail to take effect, because you don't even have some magical essence in you, unlike Marceline and the rest of the citizens in Wizard City. But it would turn you into a being of pure anti-magic in a matter of seconds." the princess explained, hoping that the hero would reconsider this act.

"So, If I'll get near the dragon Marceline spoke of, then it'll save us all from this stinky fog, am I right?" the young lad clutched the flask tightly. "Don't you dare take a sip on that thing!" Marceline quickly took a hold of his arm, grasping it tightly, making sure that the flask doesn't reach his mouth. "It's for the best, Marcy. Besides, I wouldn't want someone to die in this situation, despite of how murky It will be." the hero smiled a warm smile, tethering his gaze to hers, assuring her that everything's going to be okay.

"Let him be, Marceline." PB said unemotionally, with her eyes slightly watering. "Sometimes, you'll need to risk your life for the sake of the future, and I believe Finn wouldn't die so easily." she added, this time, tears had finally trailed through her cheeks. "Finn...you can drink it. But promise me...that you'll be okay..." "I will, and I will certainly live to see the day that this place would be back in shape!" Marceline slowly released her grip on the hero's arm, with a glint of reluctance worn in her face.

"Are you sure you're going to do your promise?" the vampire wanted to make sure that Finn would try his best to survive, even at a time like this. "Of course. I have the will to fight, just like my dad after all." the vampire slowly approached him, slowly placing her lips against his cheek until it touches it softly, making him greatly flustered. "Good luck...hero."

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><p><strong>Well, that went kinda long. And of course, I'll have to add in some risks, just for the thrills. I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and I'm really thankful for you guys for the support you've gave me. I hope you'll all continue to be my wings. Well, I've kinda forgotten about explaining about the God-like entities, since this chapter took me around 2 days to make it. Well, so much for the bright hopes. Since I've kinda lack of sleep, I guess I'll have to hit the hay then. Thank you for reading this, and peace out! <strong>


	16. Chapter 16 - The Being

**Hey guys. I know it's finally summer vacation, so I guess I'll be able to spend it by writing and drawing. I know I've been out for a while, and I'll have to apologize for it. I've been working on a bunch of works lately and I've been a huge gaming nerd for a couple of days. But here's the cool thing: We've just gained 10 faves and 9 follows! (Bring in the balloons and the cake and all the whatevers.) I, again hope for you all to continue to support this story, and I promise, things will be really unpredictable, filled with plot twists and all. (Not the weird ones though.) Anyhow, let's get to chapter 16, where the outcome of the battle is finally determined. I hope you'll share some of your thoughts after reading this chapter, and of course, a fave would be really awesome. Happy reading!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 16 - The Being<strong>

With the strings of fate attached to one another, tangled to no avail, with the dreary risk of tearing them down when one string was cut, the siege of the once glorious Candy Kingdom has became a web woven by the Wisp King, an ethereal being that currently rules over the Kingdom of the wisps, taking the eyes of one of the most exceptional clients that has ever used the Fate Reader, sustaining his remaining lifespan. "This'll be interesting..." the ethereal royal said as he tangles the fates of all of our heroes in his twisted spindle, laughing gently as his hollow voice echoed throughout the steeples of his cathedral.

"What do you find so funny, Wisp King? Perhaps you'll just continue to amuse yourself by making things more harder for these people?" a voice taunted from below his floating platinum throne. "Oh, Mordred. It's been a while." the ethereal being continued to spin his various wheels of fate. "How's the Nightosphere?"

"Oh, there? I've left that place a couple of years ago. Being the only possible heir sucks." the voice continued, as a bunch of skull worms slithered from the corners of the steeples. "What's your deal?" the ethereal being asked, halting his current activity. "Don't hide something so important to me, your highness. I know that there's something that keeps you in your throne for so long." a dark being rose from the shadows, growing in size. Yet the ethereal being has remained completely unfazed.

"I've gotten a pact with another mage. It's no big deal." he said as he continued to spin another wheel. "I could feel such powerful energies. But one of those energies has given me a large amount of ecstasy..." the dark being trailed off, with a set of tentacles slithering from his back.

"Fine. But I'm only doing this to keep you from desecrating my kingdom." "You mean your hot bed for sacrifices?" the being interrupted, offending the ethereal royal. "The Nidhogg has risen. And for some reason, this ancient abomination has tangled the fates of a human, a dog, a fire elemental, a princess and a vampire queen." the ethereal ruler explained. "How could you remain so calm at this point? It's the Nidhogg you're talking about. The dragon that the legends have spoken about. The one that is destined to bring in the prelude to the second ragnarok, the end of days!" the dark being laughed maniacally.

"If it's the end of life as you speak, don't tell me that you'll live as a malevolent god and start the universe all over again? Dream on, demon boy. The path you're walking on leads you to nowhere." the royal stopped spinning abruptly, tethering his gaze into those hollow black sockets of the enigma.

"Oh, this is exactly the first step of my beneficial plans, your highness. And even though I'm thankful for letting the sole daughter of the recently deceased Merlin summon it faster than expected, but you'll still be a part of my wrath. And I'll tell you, after this ragnarok, nothing will remain."

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><p>With the ground below her slowly reduced into rubble, the Galaxy Princess felt the air around her thicken like the desert sands, as her gown slowly morphed into ebony-black battle armor adorned with cosmic symbols signifying the planets, and the stars. The magic runes around her quickly increased in size, shifting their alphanumeric symbols in a rather faster pace.<p>

The galactic royal stood there, clutching her mighty Halberd that gradually looked more intimidating than it was before, armed with a triple-edged blade that could literally pierce the heavens. At that very moment, the galactic royal became the personification of the universe itself, carrying all its it's overwhelming cosmic energy.

**GP, you're using that spell now?! Didn't that take you around a hundred years to master? If the spell wears off, you'll be in serious trouble! **The stellar lass thought as she lain there amongst the fading rubble, all magically drained from her stellar adept powers. The ancient abomination let out a deafening roar, decaying the structures around it gruesome reptilian form. "Bring it on, dead beat!" the galactic lass swung her weapon, cutting the ground neatly.

With the ancient dragon unfazed, it's scales suddenly bored into holes, with another head slithering out of it like that of a treacherous snake's. The sight of the extra head has completely shocked the galactic royal, since she has recognized such a creature that has once owned the same head. Unlike it's host body, the head was decorated with a shade of pure white, adorned with plated golden scales and sky blue eyes.

"Isn't that...the Celestial dragon? The guardian of the outer planes? One of the sacred seven?" the galactic lass stammered. She had no idea that an impure being such as the Nidhogg would have utter control over divine power. The head moved weakly, looking into the royal's eyes, pleading for her assistance, begging to be freed from such an impure prison as such as this.

**Something tells me... that some sick wizard has done such a thing. I've never heard of dragons imprisoning other dragons into their bodies. And if they do, that's just sick. Okay, just remain calm. I've only got a few minutes left to use this skill. I'll just have to lay in the critical hits, and I'll be fine. No, we'll all be fine. **the galactic lass quickly fired out another cosmic lance from the tip of her Halberd, piercing the dragon's magical skin with pure success.

Groaning in pain, the dragon's two powerful heads fired a round of black and white flames that're hot enough to melt the melting structures in the area, nullifying the foul stench of it's previous victims. "Regalia Mirror!" the galactic royal commanded, as a huge, transparent shield rose up from the ground, protecting her from the dreadful heat. **This is bad... with both divine and unholy powers combined, it'll be nearly impossible to attack him without being interrupted. **the galactic lass thought as she stood there in front of the mirror. **But if it weren't for these ancient weapons, I'll be reduced to ashes in no time. ****  
><strong>

The royal quickly jumped out of the transparent magical shield, firing a dozen cosmic lances at will, greatly wounding it's impenetrable, rune-inscribed skin. **Great, these babies would buy me some time to be able to lay in the next punches. **with her hand raised up high, she suddenly said these words,"Cosmic Angels, disperse." Suddenly, the sky opened up, filled with hundreds of armed winged beings in her command.

"Destroy him." with one command, the beings willingly threw their weapons at the demonic creature, piercing it yet again, inch-by-inch until the beast was entirely covered in cosmic weapons. "You want to destroy this world, huh? Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but not this time. Not when I'm around, that is." with one blow to the head with the gallant Halberd's blade, the beasts neck was completely severed from it's body, making it cry a soul-piercing screech.

Staring at the bloody stump, with the fog slowly fading away, the galactic princess felt something...off with it's easy defeat. The legends has described it as completely invincible, destroying continents at its wake, breaking worlds and desecrating the temples of Glob with utter ease and enjoyment. "What...just happened?" she asked herself, dumbfounded that she has single handedly defeated the stuff of apocalyptic legend. But the fear within her hasn't stopped for some reason, that gripping fear of it suddenly resurfacing without her knowing. What about the extra head? Will there be more springing out of it's unholy neck stump? Or will it suddenly explode?

Turning back, the galactic royal took a deep breath and looked up to the wounded 1 o' clock skies with her deathly tired eyes. "You're right, Elsa." she said as she looked at her unconscious body lying next to the half ruined aircraft. "It's definitely over."

But something has really surprised her. She suddenly heard the sound of squirming and breaking bones behind her. As she quickly took a turn back, a elongated tentacle slammed her to the ground, burying her in it. Struggling to breathe, the galactic royal quickly sliced the appendage with her trusty weapon, freeing her from it's grasp.

**Not quite, your highness. I'm not letting you overpower me so easily. **A dark, echoing voice said, probably belonging to the dragon itself. "So, you've finally gotten time to regain some of your strength, huh? But I'm not going to go easy on you." the royal said, hurling another cosmic lance towards its impaled body, only to be swiftly caught by another tentacle sprouting from it's body. **What? Did he just caught one of my most uncatchable weapons? This is bad. And yet I've only got 7 minutes left! **the galactic lass swiftly conjured up another regalia weapon to aid her in battle.

"Regalia : Excalibur!" she bellowed as a shining blade morphed into her empty hands. Dodging the various beams the tentacles are firing at her, the galactic lass has finally reached it's heavily impaled body, lying dormant on the ground for a ripe 10 minutes. **A regalia summoner, eh? I haven't battled one of those in ages. **A scaled figure with horns quickly emerged from the gigantic carcass, blocking the blade with it's scaly arm. "What on earth are you?!" the royal exclaimed, pushing the sword against his hard, metallic skin. "I am the end. Can't you notice?"

With one thrust of his fist, the royal was sent flying into the air only to be dragged down by another tentacle, slamming her into the ground once again. "I'd love to play with you for a while, but you're just going to bore me." the humanoid Nidhogg quickly stabbed her with a random sword that was sticking into his back, wounding her greatly. As the demonic being continued to stab her several times, the stellar lass couldn't help but shed some tears, for she cannot do absolutely anything to save her from the clutches of death.

"Please...if there's someone here... please...help us!" she screamed to the top of her lungs, with tears running down her bruised cheeks.

But suddenly, a miracle happened.

A blazing, bear-like figure suddenly rushed into the scene, thrusting it's blazing fists into the dragon incarnate, causing it's skin to crack. "What the-" the humanoid couldn't utter a proper word to describe his level of surprise. The swift and powerful blow has finally sent it flying, and just before it could even touch the ground, the blazing figure suddenly swooped down and slammed it into the ground. Letting out a loud roar, the stellar lass would just notice it pummel down the beast's humanoid form to no avail, only uttering these words before she slowly drifted into unconsciousness. "Thank...you..."

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><p>With the ground around it deepening due to the repetitive thrusts of its blazing fists, the Nidhogg couldn't possibly use any physical attack to weaken it, since it's out of it's dragon form, it's most powerful form. <strong>Darn it! With this thing keeping me immobile, I couldn't go back to my original form. It's just...so...maddening! If I would only use my spare tentacle, yes...that would do! <strong>Another appendage sprouted out of the ground behind the blazing bear, only to be utterly dissolved so quickly. **What!? ****Don't tell me this is some form of...anti-magic!? **the humanoid beast growled out of it's frustration, with it's jaw breaking in the process.

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><p>"According to my radioactive tracker, Finn should be around here somewhere..." Princess Bubblegum and Marceline quickly ran to the battlefield, stumbling upon giant craters and cracks overloading with cosmic and demonic energy. "Bonnie, I think I'm having bad vibes about Finn, you know? Drinking that atomic formula of yours. Isn't the idea of turning him into a being just like Bella Noche too dangerous?" the vampire said, as she jumped across a huge boulder blocking their path. "If he thinks it's good for all of us, it'll be just fine. You know, despite being a skeptical scientist, I still have this feeling that everything would turn out okay if Finn does it. Do you have that feeling too, Marceline?" the princess looked into her eyes rather nervously.<p>

"Uh, yeah. I do..." the flustered vampire trailed off as she heard the grim sound of violence, and the scent of fresh blood in the air. "It's here." the pink princess stated, looking at her tracker with her hands shaking. "Is there... something wrong?" the vampire turned to her, looking really concerned. "It's just that I think this thing's broken." the princess bit her lip as she pounded the tracker with her fists gently. "Why would you say that?" the vampire smirked. "I think Finn's heart meter stopped moving." At that moment, the vampires eyes widened.

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><p><strong>Okay. This was one intense chapter I've done there. Just to let you know that it's actually the end of the Elsa Invasion arc, since the next chapter's about the aftermath of the attack. So, I guess I've just made a shocking cliff hanger. But hey, just relax. I'm not going to make things more stupid by killing off the main character of the story. You'll just have to find out in the next chapter. I hope I've kept your eyes peeled to my work, and please leave in a review before you go. Well then, see you in the next chapter.<strong>


	17. Chapter 17 - The Summit

**Hey guys. This is probably the longest chapter I've written so far, and I hope it wouldn't bore you guys. It took me a couple of days to make this, and spent a lot of nights staying up late and finding ways to make it more awesome for you guys to read. I'm really thankful for the positive reviews you guys have given me, and I swear, I'll never disappoint you. ****J Well, to avoid stalling you with my author's notes, let's just get to the story.**

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><p><p>

**Chapter 17 – The Summit**

**Finn…could that scent of fresh blood be from… **The vampire left a trail of thoughts as she shook her head out of denial. "There's no way that he'll die so easily. C'mon, it's been around 10 minutes since he'd run off with the vial." The pink princess covered her nose with a dusty hanky, sliding the tracker into her lab coat's left pocket.

"We can't be so sure." The princess spoke. "If you're probably convinced, that blood certainly doesn't belong to a human's." she added. "Really?! A-are you sure? Maybe you're just saying that just to calm me down." The vampire shook. "I'm pretty much sure about it. The blood strangely belongs to something completely different from that of a human." The princess stated, as she continued to stumble across large boulders made by the impact.

"And what would that be?" Marceline asked rather anxiously. "The blood smells like that of reptilian origin. Have you ever sucked in one of those?" the princess asked in response. "N-no!" the vampire blushed. "I don't actually feed off living things…actually…"

"So, your vampirism isn't that useful as of now. I see." The royal shrugged, offending the vampire. "I-It is!" she shouted.

After a few moments of running around the maze of broken houses and rocks, they have finally reached a dead end. An end which was blocked by a huge boulder. The pink princess suddenly crouched down and smeared her finger on the rock and licked it afterwards, disgusting the vampire. "I could sense some traces of my formula having direct contact with this huge piece of granite. We're getting warmer here." The princess quickly took a pair of grappling hooks from her right pocket, handing the other one to her vampiric companion.

"Uh, thanks, rock licker." The vampire smirked. "Whatever. Let's just climb over this rock before something bad happens. And we need to do this before day break." The princess stated again, as she begins to clutch on tightly to the rope, swiftly climbing it with ease. "Well, I could just float." The vampire quickly hovered around the other side of the rock, surpassing the heaving royal.

"Hey. I've wasted my strength in that, and you didn't even offer to boost me up with your powers. How selfish." The princess pouted like a spoiled 5 year old. The vampire gave out a sigh, crouching down to let the princess ride on her slender back. "Let's just make sure Finn's okay. Hop on." "Alright. I'll direct you, Marceline. Just remember to do whatever I say, no matter how stupid it would be." "Sure thing, Bonnibel."

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><p><p>

Grabbing its arm with its swift speed, The Nidhogg has finally regained its strength, tethering it's gaze to the blazing white being of pure anti-magic. With its jaw hanging with a trail of blood oozing from it, the reptilian being fired a black beam of negative energy to its face, enraging it more.

The blazing bear let out a blood curdling roar, with its face strangely unaffected by the lethal attack that could destroy an entire fleet of banana guards. The blazing being suddenly changed in color, shifting from rich white, to dark purple with two pairs of extra appendages sprouting out of its back.

With its four palms, pitch black beams formed with unimaginable speed, firing at the apocalyptic beast without mercy. The once flat ground where it was being pummeled to death has become a huge, shattering crater due to the force of the black matter used against it.

Screaming in pain, only half of the dragonoid's body remained, yet its unholy blood wasn't scattered, but dissolved by the heat the being was made of.

**This power…It's unimaginable! **The dragon panted heavily, looking at its surroundings with its blurred state of vision. **I can't even…use my magic! **"There's no need to panic, ancient one." A voice assured out from nowhere, amidst the certain struggle the two forces are feeling. **That voice…** "Your time's up, Nidhogg."

With the deafening sound of ticking clocks, a large set of spiked chains tied the two beings, causing them to squirm as hard as they can. **This metal…not even my plated skin could even break it… I get it now… this is the work of… **"Caleb Clocksmith, at your service, ladies and gentlemen."

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><p>The heavy duty chains heaved, pulling the volatile beings out of the deep, pseudo crater made by the blazing being's blasts of its gallant fists that stroke the Nidhogg right in the face.<p>

The demonic being didn't have enough energy to escape from the ancient engineer's grasp, so pulling him into The Clockwork's sealing clock isn't that of a big deal at the moment. But the real threat is its opponent. The blazing being attempted to throw in another set of punches, only for the powerful chains to hold him back, pulling its arms with no mercy.

With the last of its remaining strength, the blazing being suddenly ripped off the magic chains with its remaining appendages, leaving Caleb dumbfounded yet fascinated at the same time. "Amazing. This is actually the first time for something to escape these since the first ragnarok. Anyhow, I won't let this thing hinder the council's orders." The ancient engineer said as his arms lightened up a little like that of molten lava.

"Let's pace this gear up. " The clockwork pounded his brightened fists to the ground, unleashing another sealing clock at his aid, but this time, it was rather more… bigger, and probably, better. "God of Clocks, heed my aid." He commanded, as the sacred tool responded with a loud tick. **I've better send reports concerning this being. It could be a threat used against us.**

"Is that you, Douji?" The engineer called out, since his mischievous companion has an uncanny knack of telepathically speaking to him, and it definitely annoys him so. "I'm sorry, but can we talk later? I'm in a middle of sealing in another monster." **Oh, so I guess…I'll have to kiss you in your sleep again. Hehehe… **"Damn it, Douji! You're weakening the seal!" the engineer cursed as the being gave out a roar that shook the land horribly.

**Let me do this. **In a flash, a young-looking female demon emerged in the battle scene, clad with a fluffy scarf and a Japanese yukata, wielding a katana that shines like the moon. "You may be the boss around here, but you cannot change the fact that I'm one of the top three most feared monsters in the east." The female demon unsheathed the shining blade, as she ran her hand around her light brown hair.

"Douji. Remember the last time you've messed up in a mission?" the ancient engineer reminded, as his hands glowed at a ridiculous rate, sending in another set of heavy duty chains to restrain the creature. "I told you to shut it, Caleb! I can do this. I know why you've spared me, despite of the orders by the council to kill me. You've tried your best, and even begged for me to be a member. And because of that, we've became partners. Please… just let me prove to you that I'm worthy to become your partner." The demon begged, wiping a tear due to all the overwhelming flashbacks.

"Fine… Weaken it, use your lucent blade to cut through it, make it busy until it stops squirming. Don't try to do anything rash, you got that?" the clockwork ordered, being all focused on formulating a set of plans and mental notes with different strategies on how to get it in the sealing clock without any damage done.

"You won't be disappointed." The female demon said as she quickly took a giant leap forward towards the squirming being. **Jeez, why doesn't he take me more… seriously? **

With the wind and dust scuffling below her feet, the strikingly beautiful, yet intimidating Shuten Douji peered into the being's white dots as eyes, feeling something different within its cloak of overwhelming anti-magic that's literally heating her fair skin up. "Golly. You're messing my skin up, aren't you, tough guy? Well, you've just earned this ticket to dance with this devil." The female demon smirked, striking her fine-edged oriental blade against the powerful creature.

With one swoop, the blade has managed to cut off a piece of its ear, angering it to no avail. **Anti-magic. How cute. Good thing I don't specialize in magic though. **The female demon thought as she took a glance at its severed ear, tainting the ground where it lies.

Enchanting the ancient blade with the gallant amount of magic splashed throughout the kingdom, the eastern demon took a deep breath and bellowed, "Masamune, absorb what is worthy!" With a quick stab to the gut, the being thrashed wildly, breaking most of the ancient chains that are limiting its freedom.

A few seconds later, the blade shifted its translucent color into the matching shade of dark purple, stripping the being from its protective cloak. With the force within the blade that prevents it from moving, the antimage couldn't help but roar out of its frustration, with its cloak of magic slowly revealing its host.

Finn stood there, all bruised, his blonde hair all messed up, and with his hospital gown all burned up like a dirty rag, partially exposing his wounded skin. Seeing the unconscious human all chained up, the demon quickly unplanted the purple blade, with the wound all clotted out with blood.

"Oh my… Caleb! Caleb! Stop channeling your inner lock magic. I think you're just sealing up a human!" the demon called out, feeling all guilty inside. "Preposterous! It can't be true; humans can't escape any of my works! Stop it with the jokes, Douji!" The engineer replied, all skeptical about the claim of exerting his hard earned effort on sealing something so weak.

"You idiot! Just believe me this once! If you keep this up, you'll get tired, and you'll have to rest again, and I won't be able to be by your side often!" The demon blushed by what she just said. "…Just do it before someone else sees this!" she added.

The wounded hero slowly opened his eyes, and with his blurred state of vision, he couldn't really make up the situation he's now in. Looking down at the chains that are slowly pulling him into a void he knows nothing about, the hero completely ignored the fatal wound that pierced his stomach. While looking at his side, he human could sense a familiar aura coming to the area they're in.

"M-Marceline…P-Peebles…" the hero uttered, coughing up some blood in the process.

"Finn!" The sorrowful vampire screamed in horror as she saw how brutally wounded the hero was, leaving the princess dumbfounded by what she just saw; Two strangers beating the hell out of him.

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><p><p>

The vampire quickly morphed into her demonic form, causing the princess to slowly back off with a glint of reluctance and sadness present within her. Flapping her giant bat wings, the vampire clenched her fists and mindlessly charged towards the female demon. Shuten Douji quickly dodged her fists, avoiding any contact or harm inflicted towards her.

"I'm sorry." The demon whispered apologetically. Without listening, the vampire continued to charge at the eastern demon, pounding the earth so hard with every miss. "It's useless, Douji. Fall back. She has completely lost her sense of reasoning, shape shifting magic has a knack to do that." the engineer commanded.

"N-no! Let me handle this!" the demon resisted, persisting to be of any help to the innovative lad. "I'll just turn her back to normal. By that, we could unchain the human and nurse those knocked out deities before the Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty will start." Caleb pointed at the currently blacked out cosmic royals that are hidden amongst the rubble. "B-but…" "Just do it. Fall back. I wouldn't want to lose someone important to me."

After saying those words, the clockwork summoned a set of platinum chains that restrained the vampire queen temporarily, quickly reverting her back to her normal form. Falling down unconscious, the princess looked in horror at the two figures. Perhaps she was too scared to move.

"Um, I…I…" the princess babbled, dropping the tracking device to the cracked ground, leaving a soft thump on impact. The formally dressed engineer quickly reached for his pocket and showed his I.D.

"Caleb Clocksmith the Second from the World Council. I'm here to solve the matters occurring to your humble, yet…messy kingdom. I'm sorry for my partner over here, she rather…gets clumsy." The engineer pointed out, flustering the demon. "You're the one who gave me those orders!" the flustered demon replied.

"The…World Council?" the princess trailed off for a moment, hardly getting a grip of all what's' happening her. "It's not what it looks like. We're benevolent agents, your friend over here was possessed by some kind of entity, one that I cannot even seal off with my clocks." The clockwork added, trying to convince the royal to gain her trust. "B-but I thought you guys are…"

"Disbanded? No, we're an intact organization. We're just inactive due to all the peace going on in the past centuries, but we've managed to take action." The female demon replied, clearing all the dark rumors circulating around them.

"I-I see. So what brings you guys here?" The princess asked reluctantly. "We're here to send you and your friends to the World Council's HQ. The annual Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty would take place there." The engineer stated plainly. "B-but Finn and Marceline aren't in good shape! My other friends are out cold! We should postpone the meeting at once!" the princess protested, leaving the agents completely unfazed.

"The world has currently lost its balance, and we need to inform the various rulers of Ooo to join hands to create a better world. And the first step? Prevent the apocalypse."

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><p><p>

**What's…this? Am I dead…? **Finn has finally awoken from his deep slumber; surrounded by the same lifeless soil from the last croak dream he had a few days ago.

Feeling slightly drained, he had noticed that he's fully dressed in his normal clothes. That factor has led him to believe that this is nothing more than the imaginary world of his inner subconscious. Sighing in relief, the young hero struggled to stand up, due to the large amount of bruises marked around his body.

"Dang. How long was I asleep?" the hero asked himself, with his voice echoing throughout the empty space around him. **You're still asleep, I'm afraid. **A cold, enigmatic voice replied, surprising the wounded hero with a start.

"It's you again." The hero called out, wiping the blood that leaked out of his cheek. "Are you going to show me that stupid castle again?" he added. **Oh, I'm going to show you things…far more intriguing.**

The whole dull, grey scene has quickly transformed into a wreckage of land, filled with the screams of many, and the dancing flames eating every last bit of organic matter present in the area. "This…can't be…" the bewildered hero trailed off, stumbling across a burning skull while he mindlessly walked around, unsure of the things happening around him.

"What is the meaning of this?" the hero asked, feeling a little grip of fear clinging into him. **This is the future, my boy. And you're experiencing it. **"N-no…this can't be! Why are you showing these things to me?!" the young hero exclaimed, desperate for answers.

**You'll find the answers soon enough, Finn the Human. Or should I say, "The Savior"?**

"W-what are you even talking about? You're starting to lose some sense here!" the hero growled, as his cuts continued to bleed and dry out of the intense heat. "Finn…" a familiar voice called out amongst the burning corpses, desperate for his attention.

"FP…FP? Is that you?" the hero took a slight turn behind him, only to see the teary eyed fire elemental trapped into a root. "S-save me…save me before it's too late!" the fiery royal cried out, as her normal shade of bright orange has slowly shifted into a shade of pitch black, tainting the corpses around her.

"Flame Princess! J-just hang in there!" the hero quickly used up all of his strength to reach out to her, only to be caught into an eternal void that makes sure that the two would never reach each other.

The clouds darkened into a shade of dark red, causing it to rain blood, washing away everything around him. The hero looked up into the skies and cried out, "What is the meaning of this!? What kind of sick, twisted dream is this?!" the hero growled furiously.

And suddenly, a pitch black blade emerged from the moist ground, decorated with various runic markings around it.

**Find the blade, and you will know everything.**

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><p><p>

The hero woke up with a vague shortness of breath, finding himself lying on top of a soft hospital bed, with a glass of water beside him. The hero quickly took the glass and quenched his thirst, with a trail of water leaking out of his mouth. "That was intense. " The hero blurted out, wiping the sweat off his brow.

After a few moments of recovering from the nightmare he just had, the hero look a quick look at himself. He's now clad in a blue hospital gown, with a large amount of bandages wrapping almost every inch of his body. "Not again. Now how am I supposed to go adventuring with Jake with this stuff sticking around me like a bunch of noodles?" the hero complained.

"Jake…where is he?" the hero mumbled, remembering that he got separated by his brother back at the Candy Kingdom with Flame Princess. "He's in the other room. Ugh, my head." A voice answered back lazily.

"Marceline?" Finn called out, with a glint of relief hidden in his tone. "Yeah, Finn. It's me. Man…that was crazy." The vampire rubbed her forehead, feeling a little bit out of the weather.

"A-are you okay, Marcy?" the hero asked eagerly. "Y-yeah. Thanks for the concern, hero." The vampire blushed a little, looking away from him. And suddenly, the door slowly creaked open. "Finn the Human, Marceline the Vampire Queen, the both of you have been summoned to the council room at once." A formally dressed guard informed abruptly.

"But we've just woke up." The vampire protested. "Dang. And I thought this was the hospital." The hero unwillingly took a step outside the bed, feeling the squinting pain that surrounds his body. "How long was I out?" the hero demanded. "The questions and the answers don't matter. Well, at least that's just an excuse for a guard like me. "The guard replied, escorting the two injured individuals outside.

As the three treaded into unknown halls, suspicion has flooded into the vampire's mind. **Why wouldn't they answer such simple question? I have some bad vibes about this. **The vampire had felt an insanely cold chill down her spine that caused her to shiver up a little, despite of the coldness circulating through her demonic blood. **What was that just now? **The vampire thought as she took a quick glance at the various portraits decorating the dark halls. "Creeped out?" the hero asked, wearing a smirk around his face. "Nope. I'm just cold, ya know?" the vampire reasoned, probably to mask out her uncertainty.

After a few minutes of unease, the darkness had slowly faded away, leading to a wide conference room filled with most of the various rulers of Ooo, seated with all their glory. "What's going on here?" the young lad took a quick look at the large banner that says "Welcome to the 1075th Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty!" **Oh, how welcoming. **The hero scoffed at the thought.

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><p>The royals were murmuring around the place, with each one of them expressed with uncertainty and fear, just like what the vampire queen was feeling just a few moments ago. Have they felt such a breeze when walking through those walls? Or is the agenda of the meeting far too, scary?<p>

Princess Bubblegum, who's seated next to a man clad with a tuxedo, had finally spotted them, gesturing a hello to catch their attention. The vampire responded with a quick toothy grin before taking the vacant seats just above hers. "Hey, so what's the big idea? Dragging us here from our rooms?" the vampire scolded as she peered through her seat.

"What? I didn't do such a thing. Where's Finn? And who told you to come here in that?" the princess pointed out to her light green hospital gown. "Oh, this? It seems that I'm not even wearing underwear. Pretty gross, right?" the vampire whispered.

"Ew. At least get some of your extra clothes hanging in the back of the bed!" the princess exclaimed. "Oh, yeah. I was supposed to do that, before we got forced out to attend this boring meeting." The vampire reasoned rather calmly.

"C'mon. You've only attended 10 out of a thousand of these." The princess reminded her, knowing how unruly and free spirited the vampire queen really is.

"Oh, hey Peebles." Finn greeted nervously. "So, why are we sent here anyway?" the hero asked in an inquisitive manner. "I don't really know why they would send someone who isn't a part of the royal governance of Ooo. But since you've played a significant role in defending my kingdom, I guess they've sent you here to say thanks." The princess bit her lip, trying to mask her tears of joy.

"Uh…princess? You okay?" the hero cluelessly asked again, with a mix of concern and confusion expressed in his face. "Sorry, I'm just so…relieved that you're okay…" the princess blew her nose with the pink hanky she keeps in her purse, with her tears leaking out of her eyes. "Jeez, Bonnie. Save those tears for later. You should be glad that Finn's in ship shape!" the vampire petted the hero gently in the head. But suddenly, flashes of the last encounter with the two world council members raced through her thoughts, ruining her newly regained joy.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" the princess smirked a little, unable to contain her joy.

With a loud boom on the microphone, the announcer has called out to their guest speaker. "Ladies and Gentlemen, joining us today would be Lady Suzuka of the World Council. Please give us a round of applause." The royal spectators clapped, intrigued by the rather intimidating name being mentioned.

"Lady…Suzuka? You mean, _the _Lady Suzuka herself?" the pink princess shivered at the thought. "Who in Ooo is that?" Marceline asked, while placing her feet above the chair below her, crossing her legs.

"You mean, you never had heard of the legends? She's the daughter of the Fourth Demon King of the eastern mountains. Legends say that after defeating an army of evil gods all by herself, she created the world council way before the mushroom war to maintain world peace, which they failed to do so after the war. It never crossed my mind that someone as significant as her would actually exist…" the princess trailed off, confusing the vampire.

"Wait, an army of evil gods? That sounds really weird, but hey, it's what the legends say, right?" the hero asked eagerly. "Cuz if it is true, that sounds really…mathematical."

The crowd felt an aura of pure power present in the area, as a woman clad in bamboo armor with three blades hanging over her belt stepped in.

Grabbing the microphone, the woman cleared her throat and said; "You may all be wondering why my organization would be involved in such a minor event such as this…" the crowd seemed offended by the remark, yet they continued to listen.

"But, I'm sure, with us involved; it's going to be a very serious matter. We… have found some drastic signs of the world's end. "The crowd reacted, filling the room with gasps and shrieks of desperate princesses that couldn't take such news.

"But, why would we bring all of you to our headquarters? Simple. We need your help to cancel the apocalypse." The crowd murmured yet again, but this time, filled with disbelief and fear.

"We have found a reckless perpetrator desecrating the walls of the Candy Kingdom the other night, and believe me; she has direct access to summoning powerful beasts. Behold…" a huge box covered in white linen stood there by the stage, only to be dragged by a bunch of world council guards. Unveiling it, a familiar image was seen inside a glass coffin, all chained up and unconscious.

**Isn't that…Elsa? **

The pink princess stood up and raised her hands quickly like her life depended on it. "Um, could I please ask a question?… Where did you got the body?" the princess asked politely.

"Oh, it is found lying below one of your aircrafts unconscious. One reliable source has claimed that it's the alleged criminal that abruptly summoned the Nidhogg. Why would you among all people not know that?" Suzuka asked with a rather intimidating tone.

"I just…didn't have the power to do so…" the princess quickly covered her face, feeling a hundred pair of eyes looking at her. "I couldn't blame you." the council woman said bluntly.

"As I said, we need to do exactly everything to bring the world to its brighter and better future, and we need to sacrifice even our morality to do so." After a while, the doors of the atrium busted open, sending some guards flying, startling the crowd while the council woman remained strangely calm. Observing the guards, there seems to be traces of burnt marking around them. "A fire elemental, huh?" the council woman muttered under her breath.

A flaming figure emerged from the burning gates, leaving a trail of fire behind her.

"What the glob?!" a startled Finn exclaimed. "Did you just see that?" he asked his two companions. "Yeah. I guess we're being high jacked. The vampire informed, remaining as calm as possible.

"I could sense something volatile in the air. And it ain't good." The princess stated, sniffing the air around her.

"Why did you keep me locked in!?" a familiar voice yelled furiously. The council woman bit her lip, clutching the handle of one of her lethal blades. "It is crucial to seal in a catalyst. Even though you're a great ruler yourself, I guess you shouldn't be involved in a war against a force that's after your flames." Suzuka responded.

"I guess…that's just a stupid excuse, woman!" **That voice… **Finn quickly jumped from seat to seat, disturbing the seated royals in the process. "Finn? What the heck are you doing?! Get back here, you know your body can't-""I got this, Marcy. "The human interrupted. "I got this."

Rushing through the stairs, he felt a familiar heat engulfing him, it felt so sweet…so warm.

Tripping on the last step, the injured hero fell into the middle of the mat just below the speaker, barely hitting the unconscious guards just inches away from him. Taking a quick glance, the human's eyes widened in shock and relief.

"F-Flame Princess?" the stunned human quickly got up to his feet. The young fire elemental's eyes watered up, with her face of pure anger dying into a warm smile. "Finn…"

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><p><strong>Wow, I swear, I did place in some Japanese Mythological figures, if you haven't noticed the Japanese clad I've placed so far. Well you all might be wondering about why flame princess managed to go out on a rampage, well, it lies on the next chapter. (Well, that's how it gets thrilling.) Oh, and thank you for reading this chapter, despite of it's rather longer pace, so consider it as an special chapter. I hope you enjoyed this, and please, share your thoughts about it, it would be really appreciated. Well, I'll have to do more researching again, so toodles.<strong>


	18. Chapter 18 - Touch the Silver Bell

**Chapter 18 - Touch the Silver Bell**

The crowd watched in deep silence, with the sound of fire echoing throughout the grand hall like a whisper, as the two teenagers tethered their gazes at each other for a moment. As the magma leaked out of the fire elemental's eyes, the young hero noticed a burnt out piece of paper sticking in her right arm, which was turning bluish in color. Without uttering a word, the two shared a hug.

Despite of the amplified pain the young lad felt around his body, he didn't care at the moment. He was just overwhelmed that the woman he loved so dearly was safe, and kept from harm's way, or so he thought.

Suzuka stared at the two individuals calmly, as the others watched in awe. The council woman took a deep breath and grabbed the mike once again, clearing her throat once more.

"I'm afraid you'll have to stay back, Finn the Human. You don't want to get hurt again, don't you?" the regal demon clutched her other blade tightly, bracing for an abrupt attack. "Why would I?" the hero asked cluelessly.

"Finn, please…stop hurting yourself. I don't want to be the reason of your pain, and I've caused you so much…I just couldn't live with myself anymore…" the fire elemental gently pushed him away, causing him to frown. "I don't care, FP. I'm just happy you're safe, and I need to show you that."

FP grunted in pain, with the flames that make up her right arm slowly being devoured by the paper that sticked to her, which was now glowing with a bizarre ancient inscription, and it's certainly not runic.

The hero quickly dug deep into her weakening flame, in a desperate attempt to take the delicate piece out, knowing that it's actually the main reason why the volatile young lady got out of control in the first place.

He quickly jolted out of the pain, with his arm deeply scorched, burning the bandages wrapped around his fist; failing to take the object that is tormenting the fiery lass to no avail. He grunted out of his pain, yet he liked it. He was so used to pain that he began to be accustomed to it, it's like he's made out of steel.

"Stop this…Finn. You can't get it out, no matter how hard you try…" the fiery lass begged, knowing that the hero would eventually burn to death if this happens. "Nothing's impossible. Everything should have its own weakness. And I'm sure that there's someone here who can take it out." The hero glanced at the regal demon, with eyes filled with determination, and disgust, knowing that she's the one that placed a nullifying seal in her in the first place.

"Oh? There's no need to be mad at little old me. Yes, I placed a seal on her. But, the guards her too weak to pin her down to place in the other four to completely blot her out of her powers." The crowd murmured once more, now doubting the moral values of the council woman before them.

Finn ripped off his bandages, in an attempt to charge towards her, weaponless and weak. "Why would you… do this to someone so innocent about the world!?" he yelled furiously. He felt his back being pulled by the weakened ruler, with the flames on her right arm being weak enough to burn even the simplest of items. "Don't you dare risk your life again!" the fiery ruler said weakly, coughing up some purple magma on the carpet below her, burning with a weak blaze that jutted out of it.

"I'm risking it for you." he stated. "I can't believe you would endure such pain and restraints in your life time. This is just…so…unfair." The hero added, biting his lip out of his anger.

"Unfair? This is the world, human. And we need to do even the cruelest things to ensure our survival. And if her destructive flames get into the other force's hands, there won't be a tomorrow for the two of you." Suzuka responded, with a serious tone that expresses no emotion.

"Why… why would you seal up her flames for your benefit…?" the hero asked, trailing off. "_Our _benefit. Her flames aren't normal. They are **sacred.** And sacred and important things need to be kept away from the world." The regal demon interrupted, maintaining the same dull expression as before.

**I couldn't let things end like this… **Princess Bubblegum thought, as her vampiric companion remained silent for the past few minutes. The princess stood up, raised her arm up high and called out. "Is there any other benevolent way to keep the Flame Princess from the clutches of these "forces" you're talking about?" This caught the regal demon's attention.

She took a quick glance at the sealed up Elsa, and then shifted her gaze back to the two separated lovers below her. "I couldn't find any effective solution. I'm afraid this is the only way to handle things. And that is _my_ way." The self-righteous demon answered bluntly.

With the crowd complaining, the demon must find a way to convince those royals to aid her in the upcoming battles, so she couldn't afford to lose them out of her selfishness and arrogance. With a deep sigh, Lady Suzuka has decided to hear any suggestion from any of the royals.

"You." she pointed at princess bubblegum, with her eyes narrowed sharply. "M-me?" the princess pointed at herself out of her surprise. "Yes, you, your highness. What would you suggest to protect the flames from being taken away?" This surprised the crowd.

"U-uh, well, we need someone so strong to guard it. In that way, this would benefit the princess without resorting into violence." The pink princess explained her piece of opinion, with the demon nodding her head. "There's no one worthy enough to do such an action. Finding a guard? At least find someone worthy enough to touch the bell that's hanging around my neck!" the regal demon scoffed at the idea.

"So, if I touch that bell of yours, then I could be the princess' personal guard?" the hero asked, with a look of determination expressed in his face. "What are you implying, human? Does this mean you're challenging me to a duel?" the demon snapped her neck, pointing at herself, staring at him with those light pink eyes.

"You bet." With those two words uttered, the crowd cheered vigorously, instantly taking away their boredom from a rather long and formal meeting. **I can't waste my hard earned energy to fight this injured stick! But the other royals seemed to agree to such an idea…Primitive! Such primitive fools they are! **The demon gritted her teeth in annoyance, taking the rather feeble human's challenge as an insult.

"If I win, I'll be the princess' personal guard." The young lad stated strongly, causing the rather emotionless demon to snicker at the thought. "What's so funny?" the hero asked, with a glint of annoyance written all over his face. "What will _you_ do when I win this so called, "wager"?" the demon responded, ignoring the human's brief question.

With a gulp, the human reluctantly said, "You can do whatever you want. You can do things your way without any protests." **Interesting…** the demon thought.

"Fine, you'll have your wager. Let's just end this quickly before I laugh." The demon responded bluntly.

With a mix of concern and distress, the young, weakened ruler continued to pull the hero's shirt weakly, in an attempt to catch his attention. "You don't have to do this…please, Finn." She said with magma flowing out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, milady. I'll have to ignore your desperate pleas just this time." He responded with a smile.

Dumbfounded, the flaming princess smiled back, knowing that he could truly trust his capabilities. "Go for it." She said briefly. **What is this feeling? **The ruler thought as she continued to stare at the hero. **Why do I feel so…safe? **Her cheeks started to light up crimson red, as she slowly placed her purple arm against her chest. **Ah, I know this feeling. This is how it feels…to be loved.**

* * *

><p>The hero quickly observed his surroundings, looking at the crowd filled with royalties of all ranks and the floor occupied with the unconscious bodies of the guards still being eaten by the flames that gripped them. With his eyes widened he finally spotted a potential weapon he could use for the duel. It was a rather simple bread knife tucked in one of the guard's pockets.<p>

The hero quickly unplanted the cooking tool from the guard, and began to point it at the regal demon, which was clutching the handle of one of her three lethal blades. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let the show begin!" the eastern demon growled.

The crowd cheered wildly at the event, turning this rather boring seminar into that of a traditional roman Amphitheatre. After a moment of pure silence, the hero strikes the first move, throwing his jagged blade right at the female demon with unimaginable speed, shocking her.

With a light **clang**, the tool was quickly deflected by her blade, splitting it into two elongated pieces. "It seems that I've underestimated you, human. It seems that you are as they say you were." The regal demon grinned a little, confusing the hero. **What does she mean? **The hero thought as he charged at the demon recklessly without a weapon. **Let's not put this in mind, all I have to do is to touch the bell right? I've distracted her a little; now, she cannot even draw in her blade with this new found speed!**

As the hero barely touched the silver bell that dangles on her neck, he felt a huge force pressing against his belly. The regal demon has thrusted her fist against him, sending him flying across the stage, shocking the crowd. "I get you. You were just trying to end this by going all out on me. Nice try." The demon wiped her fist with a white tablecloth. "But I won't certainly let you touch the bell. Never." She added as her eyes sharpened.

The hero quickly stood up, spitting some blood in the process. "I'm just getting started." The young lad taunted as he pulled out the retractable sword Jake gave him out of his pocket. **Phew. I thought I've lost it. Thanks a lot, Jake. **

The human took a series of short, deep breaths as the sword glowed ominously. With a few droplets of sweat trailing down his face, the hero charged yet again, thinking that sheer force is the key to his victory. Being a rash thinker by birth, this was probably normal for him. No, it was his thing. Brute force is what defines him.

Caught by surprise, Suzuka quickly dodged his abrupt attack as she continued to wipe her knuckles. Dumbfounded, the eastern demon has decided to take him seriously. **He's too fast…for a human. **Those words echoed through her mind, as their blades clashed repeatedly with the same iron clangs.

She could see the determination and seemingly undying willpower present in his eyes. She knew, that he'll do absolutely do anything to get his wish, even though it means to pick a fight with someone as powerful as her. She scoffed at the analysis, forming a slight grin on her pale, white face, confusing the hero.

**W-what is she smiling about? I guess she's planning something big. I'll have to strike her with my blade in another direction. That'll catch her by surprise, then, it'll leave her bell exposed. **The hero isn't the type to strategize, but the hands of maturity have gotten the best of him. He'll need to strategize against her to win, because doing things his way isn't gonna lead him somewhere.

The glowing blade shifted its direction towards her heel, but before it could even barely graze her shin guard, the female demon quickly grabbed it tightly without flinching.

"You're fast. But not fast enough." The demon snapped the blade without blinking, with her light pink irises sinking into his. Unfazed, the hero plunged his right fist against her unguarded chin, sending her flying with the expression of surprise.

**I knew it. **The demon thought as she wiped the small trail of blood seeping out of her half-open mouth. "I see you've surpassed your physical limiters. Well done, boy. You're slowly turning into something different. Something otherworldly. Something…**not human.**" The hero's eyes widened yet again.

**T-that…can't be.** The hero felt a surge of denial flowing within him. He actually felt proud of his endangered lineage; it makes him feel important, protected, and alone.

* * *

><p>"You're lying." He blurted out, clenching his fists again. "You're lying!" tears fell down his cheeks, as he continued to breathe heavily due to the exhaustion. "Finn…" Flame Princess quickly used up all of her remaining strength to get to him, wrapping him around her arms. Since the her flame's destructive power reduced massively due to the seal taking its toll on her, so simply touching the hero wouldn't burn him. It was the perfect opportunity for her to interact with him safely for the first time.<p>

"You don't have to go through that just to save me." the young fire elemental whispered to his ear softly. "No, this is the truth. I'm losing my humanity. Now let me go, FP." The hero commanded.

The fire elemental tightened her grip as her cheeks flustered heavily. She didn't want to be told to at this moment, and she definitely doesn't want to lose that chance

"Let him go, catalyst. We're still in the middle of our wager." Suzuka requested bluntly, as the crowd watched in silence.

"Wait!" Princess Bubblegum called out, catching the regal demon's attention. "What is it, your highness?" the demon responded rather quickly. "Since you've already seen a glimpse of Finn's new found strength, could you at least give him a chance?" the princess suggested, hoping that a self-righteous person such as Suzuka would buy it.

"What's done is done. We've already made a deal. And I don't want to waste my strength by just breaking it." The demon responded, suddenly shifting her attention towards Finn. "Our fight…isn't over." She smirked sadistically.

The girl of flames' condition worsened slowly and slowly, with her body turning entirely purple. The hero clenched both of his fists harder until his knuckles snapped. "Unseal her." He growled hatefully.

"Win. That's the only way to save her. She won't die, though. She'll just be placed into a nullified coma." The demon explained. "D-don't mind me Finn…I'll be…okay." The fire elemental smiled as she slowly slumped into the ground. "FP!" the hero crouched down, clasping her hand tightly. "I'll win. Don't you dare give in to that seal. Just hang in there no matter what." The hero requested as his depression gradually amplified. "I-I'll try…I know you can do it…" the young ruler touched his wet cheeks. "Don't cry…trust yourself. Trust me, like how I trust you…" she said as she slowly drifted away into unconsciousness. "Go for it…" she added.

* * *

><p>"Promise me that you'll try your best to hang on?" the hero asked. "Of course…" FP smiled again. The hero felt a little enlightened to that smile. He felt a glint of peace in it, something that could soothe his weary soul. As soon as he stood up, his gaze was fixated with the demon. He tries to look for any openings, weak points, but he has yet to find one.<p>

**I'll have to act fast before she drifts away.** The hero charged with his bruised feet, plunging his fists against the demon, only to dodged further more. Swing after swing, dodge after dodge, the two figures were going on a pointless loop. Perhaps Finn was too desperate to win?

"Pointless. You strike, I evade, that's just going to go on forever." she blurted out, probably bored by his rather bland attacks. "You talk too much." The hero said as he quickly changed his attack style.

He thrusted his legs against her bamboo plated waist, causing her to jolt out of her surprise, leaving her neck fully unguarded. **Now! **His hand reached out for the silver bell as his heart beats rapidly. He was expecting failure due to Suzuka being a rather unpredictable opponent.

He felt his wrist being pushed away by her hand, making the bell once again out of reach. "You can't touch it, no matter how hard you try." She said confidently. Suddenly, she felt a sharp blow to her heel, tripping her in the process. "The bell isn't what I'm after. It's one of your swords." The hero explained, as the crowd watched in amazement. **He…fooled me. **The demon sat there, dumbfounded. **I can't believe it. **

As the human swung the blade directly at her, the demon quickly unsheathed her second blade, which was an elongated, jagged katana. **Clang **the sound of clashing metal followed. Finn slammed the sword again like a madman in an attempt to leave her off guard. If Suzuka stops holding her jagged sword to shield her from her own blade, she would get slashed, since Finn has wielded Kenmyoren, one of Suzuka's divine swords used for attacking her enemies.

Finn continued to slash relentlessly, shocking the crowd, especially both Marceline and PB. "I can't let this happen." Marceline tried to get out of her seat, only to be stopped by Bubblegum. "Don't, Marceline. You'll only stir up some trouble. You could see how Finn's so desperate to accomplish a near impossible task." The princess said. "I know. I'm just worried about him. What if he loses it?" the vampire asked her. "Then let him lose it." The princess replied plainly. "You trust him, right?" she added. "Yeah." The vampire paused as she turned away, trying to hide her crimson red cheeks.

Finn felt an overwhelming sensation overflowing over him. No, it was not an urge, no emotion nor desire, but a physical energy just literally burning inside him. "This feeling…It's just like before." The hero paused for a second, halting his actions, as the demon sprung from the ground, kicking him across the stage.

With all three blades pointing towards him, just inches away from his face, the hero couldn't move. The demon stared at him intently, giving him a sense of dread. "Give it up. There's no way that you can counter this." The demon said plainly. "It's…over."

**Cling. **The bell ringed, shocking the demon. Finn felt the energy ascend from his body, and as he looked at his belly, an arm created out of pure anti magical essence extended from him, only to do the simple task of ringing the bell for him.

Amazed, the crowd gasped at the sight. With the arm still extending out of his belly, the hero screamed out of sheer terror. Suzuka quickly backed off. Taking a quick look at her blades, the tips that were in contact with the enigmatic arm darkened, losing its shine. "Finn the Human. I guess the tables were turned. You'll get your wish." The demon said as she snapped her fingers, breaking the seal that tormented the flaming lass for the past few hours.

"She'll be awake soon." She added sending some relief in his heart. "Your duty will begin tomorrow. You'll undergo extensive training with one of our councilmen specializing in Anti magic. Don't be late."

The dumbfounded hero laughed a bit, only to drift into unconsciousness yet again as the arm slowly crept back inside of him, shocking the crowd.

* * *

><p>"Finn. Finn! Wake up sleepy head!" It was none other than Jake, waking Finn up by relentlessly shaking him vigorously. "Wha? Jake? Where were you? I had this really crazy dream, that I was fighting this insanely powerful demon lady with three swords in a meeting." The hero said as he rubbed his sweaty forehead. "Well…I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but it's actually something that happened 2 hours ago." The dog reluctantly clarified. "What? FP! Where is she?" the young lad looked around nervously.<p>

"Dude! She's fine. PB's giving her some medicine and nursing her back to health, so you don't have to worry. Jeez, don't you have anything in mind aside from Flame Princess?" Jake asked curiously. "Well, yeah. Why aren't you there to help me?"

The hero's words hit him like a rock. With the guilt building out inside him, the dog began to explain. "Man, I heard all these things from Marceline. I was dozing off the whole time." The dog grinned, just to mask out his feeling.

"No one called you?" the hero asked. "Yeah. No one. Why'd you ask?" the dog looked at him oddly. "Because I was invited into a royal's meeting with no apparent reason." The hero responded. "I've got this feeling that everything's all played out, as a test, you know? And maybe FP played along, for some reason." He added. "Where'd you get that from? Man, I knew all those detective movies aren't good for you." the magical dog laughed it off.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for waking me up, man." The young lad hugged him tightly. "No probs bob. That's what brothers do." The dog replied.

"Dude." The hero called out. "What is it?" Jake replied almost immediately. "I could feel there's probably someone staring at us right now." Finn shivered at the thought. "That's probably the horse." Jake chuckled. "Man, that's far worse than that." the two shared a laugh.

* * *

><p>But Finn was indeed being watched. Mordred smirked as he jumped out of the corner of the window outside. <strong>I've finally found the location of Surt's flames. I guess things are going exactly as planned<strong>. The white-haired demon thought as he walked towards the gates leading outside. "Halt." A guard approached him. "You shouldn't be out this hour. Curfew starts from 9-6 in the morning." He stated, pointing a spear towards him. "Oh my, I was just taking a walk. Maybe I should take you to the land of the dead for free?" Mordred smirked as he thrusted him hand towards the guard's chest, causing him to cough off large amounts of blood. "Let this be a reminder, of your ignorance."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I'll have to apologize for the wait and the lack of any author's notes from the start of the story as I usually do. Well, sometimes, you'll have to just go to the story before you read some of my brief journal entries. Or at least that's my excuse for submitting this in a hurry and forgetting about placing a note before the chapter begins. -_- Asides from that, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I have a bit of a writer's block before, but now I'm inspired and refueled to the way, I am supposed to release my second fanfic around this month if I have time, since I've already created the draft in my cellphone. Anyways, thank you for reading, and I hope you'll leave a review after this, if that's cool for you. And I'll have thank my readers for inspiring me to do my best. I love you guys.<strong>


	19. Chapter 19 - Signs of Death

**Chapter 19 – Signs of Death**

With the sound of churning guts and snapping spears and bones, Mordred's clean, white suit was now covered in blood. He laughed maniacally, as he deflected all of the charging guard's attacks with the pitch black appendages sprouting out of his back.

One of the severely injured guards managed to escape the horrific battle, reeking with the scent of dried blood, with remnants of brain matter splattered across his face and uniform. With a missing arm and with the fingers on his right hand broken and sprained, getting a hold of his cellphone was nearly impossible.

"Damn it!" he cursed, pounding the device to the ground. "I…need to inform the mistress before he gets to her!" he mumbled under his breath, catching the demon's attention. "Oh? I bet you'll never get to her. "Mordred loomed towards the crippled man, grabbing the back of his blazer with one of his extra limbs. "Do you want to live? I'll take it as a yes. Now tell me, where have you guys placed your cursed items?" he added as he lifted him up to the air.

"L-like hell do I know! That's classified information!" he growled as he coughed up some blood due to the pressure exerted in his neck. "That's the oldest excuse in the book." The demon said bluntly. "Don't waste my time. How about call in some of your friends? It's really fun to squish them some more." He added with a disturbing grin.

"Don't you dare insult the World Council Guards!" the guard growled again. "You're just grunts. Don't be so proud of it." The demon threw his nearly lifeless body to the cold, wet concrete, amplifying the pain none the less. The guard locked his gaze at him, with his sight partially blurred due to the large amount of blood loss. "What the hell are you?!" he yelled with a hateful tone.

"You know what?" the demon crouched down, placing a finger between his lips to silence him. "I am your new god."

* * *

><p><p>

Finn woke up from a start, all sweaty and scared. He had another nightmare, and it is clearly something much more sinister than the other one he had.

He jolted out of his bed and raced to the mirror just inches away from him. "This can't be real." He gasped as he noticed that he had a streak of white hair blending in amongst the thickness of his blonde locks.

He felt it, ran through it, grabbed it, and twisted it. There was no mistake; it was a thick streak of frosty white hair. "Freaky. I must be growing old or something." He mumbled to himself as he continued to twist it more. He took his tattered hat lying under his mattress and wore it, just so no one would see it.

He still felt it. That feeling of being constantly watched. Feeling a little paranoid, the hero looked around the dim room that was only lit by the lampshade next to him. Everything looked normal, and nothing was out of place, and there is certainly no body looking at him through the window.

**C'mon, Finn. Don't be such a wuss. **His conscience told him to keep calm. The young lad complied, as he plopped himself against the cold tiles that made up the floor.

"Now how will I protect everyone? Now that I'm losing a bit of my bravery." He mumbled again. "I wouldn't want someone to overhear me though." He suddenly stood up, knowing that it'll be a little bit awkward for him to rest on something so hard, but of course, he was used to it.

Little did he know that there was another cup of coffee resting below the lampshade with an envelope pinned to it. He stared at it for a moment, and after lifting the porcelain handle, he took the note with his other hand and ripped the sides off with his teeth, revealing its contents.

The return address was oddly left blank, yet it was addressed to the exact room where Finn rested. A little bit unnerved by this, the hero reluctantly opened the piece of paper, only to find a shocking discovery.

Wrapped in the paper are photos depicting the dark events occurring in his dreams. His eyes widened as he quickly shuffled through them. The cup fell into the ground, leaving a pool of liquefied coffee beans. "H-how? Why?" his body shook horribly due to the tension. With the photos falling to the wet ground, the paper had a message written in red ink, all composed with capital letters. "I'M WATCHING."

He rushed to the bathroom that was just a few steps away from him and puked. **Now my dreams are haunting me in real life. This is just… **frustrated, he cursed, slumping his body against the toilet. After a few moments of rest, he heard the pitter patter of footsteps outside the door.

Paranoia has hit him yet again. He jolted, slipping himself against the tiles. "Go away!" his words echoed the room, which was followed with deep silence, with the shadow of something tall still standing against the door. The young hero breathed heavily with his face wet with sweat. "Break it…" a shriveled voice echoed from outside. "Break it…"

Finn curled up to a ball, covering his ears. The more he resisted, the more the voices grew louder and louder than before. "Okay, Finn…find your happy place…find your happy place…"

As soon as he shut his eyes, his subconscious gaze was welcomed with a burning city filled with burning corpses. "Damn it!" he growled. Thankfully the shadow was gone, and the voices stopped…for now.

Reluctant to go outside, the hero picked up every hint of courage and busted out of the door. He quickly covered the large, glass windows with the thick, linen curtain being pushed aside. He then gathered all of the photos and threw them outside, sending them flying to the open area like a bunch of withered leaves. After doing his work, he slumped against the walls, probably tired with all the running.

After a minute, the hero took a quick look at the time. It was 3:24 in the morning. **All two hours of doing nothing.** He covered his face with his sweaty palms. "What am I gonna do?"

* * *

><p><p>

Marceline took a quick stroll at the hallway after changing. It's been a while since she has walked around obscure, dark places other than her precious cave. After the duel with Lady Suzuka back at the atrium, Finn was transferred to another room farther than hers, which kinda bothered her quite a bit.

**He might do something unpredictable like what happened at the hospital. **She shook her head, trying to erase any memory about it. **No, he's too fatigued to do anything. So I don't have to get worried. Ugh, why am I always thinking about him? I'm always thinking about my songs and stuff, but this is just crazy. **she felt the rough brick walls as she continued to look around, feeling a tad bit unnerved by the realistic portraits of men and women from the past staring right at her. At least that's how she felt.

**Why do I feel so, weird? Back at the atrium, it feels like I've been stabbed in the gut just looking at them. I should feel happy for them, but why do I feel the exact opposite of things? **She pondered with her thoughts, as she continued to walk in a seemingly endless loop of silence. She sighed melancholically as her ebony black hair swayed due to her rather tired motion. And after a few seconds of treading into the darkness, she felt that deathly cold breeze rushing against her.

"What the-"the bewildered vampire turned around, only to see the darkness eating away the path behind her. "I must be seeing things." She smirked a little as she slowly turned away. That feeling of unease never left her. Being the vampire queen, it's something very rare for someone as fearless as her, and she must erase that vulnerable feeling in order to deserve such a title, but she doesn't want to be called that way in the first place.

The vampire heard a crackling noise behind her that caused her to stop walking. She then felt an aura of some sort that she just couldn't identify. Reluctant to turn around, she only tilted her head to the right, only to catch the view of a mysterious, skeletal figure standing next to a white, and worn out hospital door. Her eyes widened in fear, knowing that the towering figure over there couldn't be something benevolent, but made, in every fiber of its being with pure malice.

It scratched its withered looking claws against the door, slowly, and slowly, until the sound became unbearable to the vampire's ears. She caught a glimpse of its face. Its eyes were in the form of hollow, black sockets, the skin and flesh of its jaw looked like it was literally ripped off, and its horns looked unnervingly unproportional, with one cut off with something sharp.

She knew who it was. It was the very embodiment of her lonely childhood; it was the one that caused the world to turn upside down with a desire to do it again. And nothing fits that description other than the Lich himself.

**W-what's he doing here? ** The vampire froze into her position, as the harrowing figure noticed her standing right in front of him. **I could smell…your darkness.** A gentle voice echoed through her mind. "I believe that you're wrong. I don't have that in me." she spoke out loud, as the skeletal figure cocked its head on one side. **Oh? You do certainly have such darkness. And it's so strong…it makes me ecstatic. **

The figure slowly went forward, abandoning the door it once scratched. The vampire quickly backed away as soon as she regained her movement. Inhaling and exhaling rapidly, the fiend managed to go inches away from her face. Opening its gaping mouth, the fiend uttered those words before vanishing into thin air. "I will never stop…until every…single one of you will drop…dead!"

The brief encounter with that global threat really confuses her and scares her at the same time. She woke up, only to find herself sleeping in the same hallway with the same door welcoming her gaze.

"Man, I guess I was just dreaming." Taking a second glance at the door, something had hit her like lightning. Yes, there were visible scratch marks etched on the door, now all blackened and rotten, with little maggots popping out of its surface. Dumbfounded, she carefully got up, and touched the markings gently, with the worms squiring around her fingers. "What in the world…happened?"

* * *

><p><p>

With a light bang on the office doors of Lady Suzuka's quarters, one of the guards who've survived the gruesome attack came in severely wounded and pale. "Milady!" he called out, with a droplet of blood leaking out of his mouth. "I could see there's something wrong. Tell me." the regal demon said as she kept her deck of worn out Japanese cards.

The guard fell silent for a moment, with tears dropping down his eyes. "The middle flank…has been attacked." The demon stood up after jolting in her seat. She began to sweat a little, knowing that the middle gate wouldn't be attacked so severely. "Tell me the situation in detail." She responded rather sternly.

Describing such a horrific situation was a hard task for him, seeing his friends brutally murdered by a supernatural madman. He began to sob, as the blood slowly gushed out of his shoulder. "We…were guarding the gates about an hour ago, and suddenly, we've heard of reports of someone attacking one of the patrol men in the north wing. And we called our patrol squad…and then…" he continued to sob more loudly. "I see. I can't pressure a comrade to recall something so horrible. I'll send in more of the troops."

The guard growled, clenching his fists tightly, showing the vein. "I can't let you sacrifice more of our comrades, Milady!" he huffed and puffed furiously. "And what will we do then? Let that bastard who has killed your friends attack us further?! I won't accept this notion Mr. Sanders, and I'm sure you yourself would do the same!" she pounded on her desk furiously.

"Call in the other troops." She commanded. "I can't. I'll have to disregard your orders milady. This is just too farfetched for someone who cannot be killed." The guard responded, bowing his head slightly. "I'm sorry." He added with an apologetic tone. "I understand your feeling, Mr. Sanders. Believe me, I've lost my friends throughout my prolonged life, and I've even lost the man I loved to the other side. In that, I've learned that you'll have to sacrifice everything in order to achieve world peace. And that has yet to come." She said with a glint of guilt in her eyes.

"B-but…" "Do you trust our comrades?" Suzuka cut him off, causing him to stammer a bit. "Y-yeah, but…that thing…they couldn't possibly kill it!" he responded. "Don't make me ask the question again." She said emotionlessly. "Yes. Yes, I do." He answered desperately.

"Good." She picked up the phone and dialed quickly. "Calling the Void Caster Units, there's an extremely powerful force that has breached our area in the north wing. We need all of you to purify it as soon as possible." She commanded. "And…make it swift. We wouldn't want to wake up the guests."

* * *

><p><p>

Mordred's carnage continued throughout the night, in an attempt to wipe out all of their defending units for a more successful infiltration to the heavily guarded areas of the HQ. After slaying his last guard by sucking out his life essence, someone caught his attention.

"Halt. You wouldn't want to get sealed into another dimension, do ya?" It was one of the Void Casters assigned to defeat him. The white haired demon cocked his head and threw the lifeless body away from him, wearing a disturbing grin on his face. "You really…have such a nerve to approach me in that manner." A dark energy sprawled across the ground where his standing, absorbing all of the blood and flesh he has scattered across the area. "Regardless, you won't be spared."

"You're the one who has the nerve to kill our friends as your own sick way of fun. Our leader knows what you're doing, and we're here to destroy you." one of the void casters growled. Mordred couldn't help but laugh, leaving the rest of the void casters to stay silent. "Are you guys serious? Well, in that case…" the demon trailed off as he took a quick look behind him. "I bet these guys would be enough fun for you."

There, standing above the ancient gates were seven figures, each with their own specific weapons and attire. But the only thing that matches them, are their masks, all with runic symbols making up the design.

"Phase 1." The lead void caster tethered his gaze at the various opponents. "Cast."

The various casters conjured up their spells, firing dark, dense balls from the tip of their various magic wands. "This is ridiculous." Mordred scoffed at the sight of these substances that dried off the blood seeping into his skin. "Guys, show them what is…sophisticated."

The masked figures nodded, causing one of them to jump from the gate and freeze all of the incoming balls in an instant, something that no present-day mage would do. The once lethal orbs fell into the ground like that of extremely fragile garnets, perplexing the mages. **What? Void magic couldn't be stopped even with Anti-magic. So, what caused all of this? **The lead void caster thought, as he watched his comrades flick their wands frequently, failing to cast a single offensive spell.

"Phase 2!" he called out, catching all of the unit's ears. "Utilize!"

Pulling out their weapons, the remaining void casters open fired, sending the force of their carefully geared bullets against the masked figure in front of them, sending it flying towards the gates with great speed, crushing a large portion of the structure.

Mordred stood there, completely unfazed, with one of the bullets grazing his skin. "You've all done the wrong thing." He snickered mischievously.

**What does he mean? Why is he…laughing? **A loud crash could be heard nearby, sending the mages flying around like rubble. The leader's eyes widened, due to the unexpected attack done by something completely unseen. "What the-" before he could even finish his sentence, he felt a strong force wrapping around his neck, suffocating him until he coughed up some blood.

"In case you haven't noticed…Anger takes on an invisible form once he's absorb a huge amount of damage. And trust me, locating him could be tough." Mordred explained thoroughly.

"Y-you…monster!" the leader said as he struggled to speak due to the increasing force pressing around him. "I get that all the time." He responded, snapping his fingers.

* * *

><p>Suddenly, the pitch black aura that emanates from Mordred's body extended across the cold, blood soaked floor, absorbing all of the souls of the half conscious bodies of the crushed mages, killing half of the squad instantly. "You see? You're all just flies getting in my way. You're not the ideal type of people I'm going to rule upon." The demon said, with his dark tentacles harvesting the souls, ripping them off of their bodies like that of withered, ripe fruits.<p>

Being unable to speak, the leader painfully watched all of his friends and subordinates die by his hand, with his vision blurring rapidly. Spurting out his probable last words, the leader smiled a little as death loomed closer to him. "You're…all…going…with me."

* * *

><p>The atmosphere felt…eerie. Being an exiled prince of darkness with a 7 man army in his arsenal, the demon felt a huge sense of nothingness. The various shades of color in the background literally drained out, leaving everything dull and monochrome.<p>

A silent slash could be heard like the wind. As Mordred took a slight turn, he saw Anger, still clutching into the dying old man, lacking a head.

The hulking figure fell into the ground, lifeless. He felt a little bit confused, twitching his brows for a couple of seconds. The demon felt something cold touching the tip of his chin. As he looked down, it was actually a dull, gray blade pointing right at him. "I'm impressed, being able to kill off a large portion of my mages so easily." An elegant voice said unemotionally.

"What? How?" he asked, with a glint of annoyance in his tone. "How did you spot-""Anger?" she interrupted rather swiftly. "Simple. My eyes could see it all."

Lady Suzuka pushed the blade closer to him, with the world still left in dull shades of white and gray. "Make one move, and you'll certainly meet an untimely end." She threatened sternly. "Hmph. I guess it can't be helped." A rather sinister looking smile curved up on his face.

He grabbed the blade with his left hand, causing it to pass right through his head. Confused, the regal demon tried to mask it by looking at him seriously. "Enough pointing at me with your worthless sticks. Let's dance; after all, it's been an honor meeting you, Mrs. Suzuka Gozen. Or should I say…Miss?" he said formally as the wounds that ripped his face in half rapidly healed.

"What do you want?" she asked briefly. "I want a little something that could bring me one step closer to my goal." He responded almost immediately. "And it looks like you have it."

Suzuka bit her lip with a stubborn look on her face. "And there are a million ways for me to keep you from having it." She threatened, as her gaze upon the demon intensifies. "Oh, looks like you've ignored my henchmen." the devious demon pointed out to the gates, with the figures missing.

Her eyes widened in shock. She quickly took her phone and placed it in her ear, phoning the other troops. Mordred simply chuckled at the sight. "It won't work. Looks like the effects of your renowned "Monochrome Rainbow" has backfired." He cocked his head to the side. "With the skill in effect, everything that lives…would freeze until the spell wears off. And that includes your service providers for back up. "

She slid the phone back to her pocket, and growled. "And what will you do? Will you fend me off? Or protect your immobile people. Choose. Either way, I'll make sure that you'll die soon after."

"Don't spurt out your choices like you'll be the one who'll taste victory. Do you seriously think that my special unit of void casters would die so easily? Look around you."

The dull, colorless atmosphere was filled with withered, hollow husks lying on the floor, with the buildings decomposing and falling apart rapidly and the sky lacking any clouds and stars. The dark prince knew what was going on, and it looks like he's in a very sticky situation to be in. **No way…is this…?**

The regal demon smiled for the first time. "Yes, you're in a fake version of my HQ."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, it took me a couple of days to make this, since I've been busy with some family affairs and such, but I've managed to upload this when I've got the time. You all might be confused about this chapter's ending, but you'll find the answers in the next one. <strong>

**Next on Castles of Glass Chapter 20 -**

With Finn waking up on a deserted island, he ventures on to find his friends, only to find out that he was exported to the island to train with his newly assigned mentor for the next 6 months.


	20. Chapter 20 - Desolation

**Chapter 20 – Desolation **

**Where...am I? **

Finn woke up once again, but this time, he was lying flat against the damp, abrasive sand. He stood yup, grabbing a portion of his hair due to the massive headache he's currently having.

With the clear, salt water slowly brushing up against his feet, realization's gotten the better of him. His clear, blue eyes widened, now knowing that he's actually resting against the shore of a desolate island, a place where he least expected to ran off to.

The young lad fumbled quite a bit, with his eyes shifting back and forth, gasping for air. He quickly reached to his damp pockets, desperate to find his worn out cell phone lying within its depths. Grabbing the device tightly, he pressed its faded buttons repeatedly, hoping that it would eventually turn on and do what it's done for; to call.

The young lad grunted, throwing the device towards the vast ocean right in front of him. He clutched his fists tightly, hitting the sand furiously. **Not again...** Those thoughts raced through his head. **Why? Why would these things happen to me!? **

The young hero closed his eyes shut, and took a deep breath. He got up, with his feet seeping deep into the ocean's territory. He didn't mind. His relentless fear of the fresh ocean didn't matter anymore.

He observed his surroundings, knowing that nothing good would come out of it if he'll just explore the place directly. The beach was like that of a typical shore, except it was decorated with various flora, towering trees, and thick and strong vines. The young lad smirked a little, knowing that he wouldn't get hungry, thinking that there are animals lurking within the lush greenery.

Finding a rusted blade planted just a few meters away, he felt something really off about finding something so out of place in a rather desolate area. He picked it up, and swung it. "Hm, this'll do."

**Well, if I'm lying right here, I'm sure that the others are probably somewhere out there, looking for me... ** Those thoughts raced through Finn's head faster than sound. He walked around for a bit, ceasing to let his guard down, being in a rather new environment.

**But...what happened to the HQ? **The ground trembled beneath him, causing him to trip over the dirt, only to be followed by the sound of a woman's scream. Finn, being the rather noble type of lad, decided to follow it, thinking that it's actually someone like him being trapped into a very sticky situation.

**Finally, a person! All I need to do is to save her before she gets eaten by whatever's living here. **Running across the withered vines and branches, the screams still echoed throughout the area, unnerving him a little.

He went on the jagged path, jumped across ledges, climbed upon trees; in short, he's going through all sorts of dangers just to reach his goal. On the way, he felt a little bit, disturbed by what happened. Going all out on his own, being played by some sort of entity haunting his dreams, the photos, those things couldn't just happen without a sole purpose. But after he thought about the foggy details, a vivid image of Flame Princess in his dream flashed though his mind yet again. He halted his trekking, rubbing his forehead until the image vanished into his subconscious vault. "Man...Why would I think of those things in such an unrelated situation?" he mumbled.

The bushes behind him rustled, catching his attention. The young lad clutched his blade, pointing it towards the possible places where the threat would hide and conceal itself.

While holding the heavy blade, he noticed how his hands trembled a little. **Why...am I trembling? **He thought as he felt a glint of dread forming within him.

With the air thickening, a towering, hulking shadow emerged, adorned with various quills and warts studded throughout its thick, leathery skin. Its wolf-esque face growled, with its golden irises glowing like that of yellow stoplights.

The hero stopped moving all of the sudden, being shocked at the fact. The beast began to charge at his immobile form, tackling him from the front.

He struggled to fight it, yet his limbs continue to fail him. He grunted, as he attempted to defeat the beast and its overwhelming might. Who knows? The various fauna might be as dangerous as this one, or worse...

**Why...can't I move? **He thought yet again, as he failed to fight back. The beast continued to thrash its fists towards him, with the dark earth splattering across his face. **Oh...I get it now. **He thought as his vision blurred.

**It's because...I'm weak.**

* * *

><p>As the scent of cooked meat invaded his nose, the hero suddenly woke up in his slumber. With his head lying against a thick log, he was surprised on why he would doze off on such a thing. After all, a log is the last thing he could lean his head on after being attacked by a bunch of log gnomes back home.<p>

Looking at his surroundings, he quickly noticed the blazing fire dancing against a slice of animal meat. With his stomach on a rampage, he quickly marvelled at the sight, as his mouth oozed with thick saliva.

"Oh, if I were you, I wouldn't lay a hand on that thing." A voiced called out, catching the young lad's attention. "O-oh... S-sorry." The hero stuttered a little, as he wiped the streak of liquid leaking out of his mouth. "Hey." The voice responded. "How long have you been in these parts?"

Taking a quick look at the figure, he calmly answered, "I don't know, about...a day, I guess..." "A day...and you haven't managed to beat some of the weak slime crawling around these parts such as that Quill Beast?" She answered rather calmly.

Taking a quick look beside him, he saw a rather petite looking lass around his age, crouching next to him, with her lucent, amber eyes fixated to his. "Hey." She poked his nose rather roughly. "Stop staring, quill bait." She chuckled a bit.

"Man, that's not a nice thing to say, kiddo." the hero responded, with a large smile forming in his face. "Whatever." She continued to poke his nose repetitively. "I may look like a kid, but I'm actually older than I look." The petite lass added.  
>"Oh, glob. What are you? Like, 100 or something?" he sighed deeply. "No, moron. What are you? A caregiver?" the lass pinched his nose harder, causing him to jerk around.<p>

"Ow! Dude, that's not cool! You've almost jacked up my nose!" the hero complained, as he cupped his red nose with his hand. "I'm 15." She said, ignoring the lad's rant.

"Finally, someone who's not over a hundred." The hero chuckled a bit, waving his arms in air. **Where did you come from? **She thought to herself, as a drop of sweat trailed through her face. "Okay, putting that aside, could you please answer my question?" she asked politely.

"No. No, I haven't." The hero answered briefly, taking a quick look at his wounds. "Oh, so that's why you're attacked by that Quill Beast a while earlier." She mumbled to herself, looking at the trees around them. **So, that thing...was easy to beat? **The hero thought as the foggy memories of the dreadful attack raced though his head. "Man, those things normally avoid people. I guess they could sense...your fear." The petite girl smirked a little.

"My fear? Is that what makes them tick" the young lad asked attentively. "Yeah, technically, they wanted to suck the fluids that rush all over your veins when you're all scared. So being calm is the best option." The petite lass explained thoroughly. "I see..." the young hero trailed off as he continued to gaze at the cooked meat for a few seconds.

"You...interest me somehow. Mind if you give me your name?" the petite lass asked, poking his cheeks slightly. "I'm Finn." He blurted out plainly. "My, what a "fishy" name." She laughed a little, leaving the hero unfazed.

"Hey, to keep things fair, I need your name too, you know." The hero responded bluntly. "Oh, yeah. As you know, I have severe trust issues. "She winked, annoying him a little. "If you're trying to lure me in to get me interested in you, you're doing it wrong. "He said, taking a scalding piece of meat out from the fire.

"Fine! Jeez. Venti!" she yelled, all flustered. "Excuse me?" the dumbfounded hero asked. "My name's Venti!" she clarified.

"Okay, "Venti." Let's try to find ways to get the hell outta here." The young hero said cheerfully. "Sorry, but that's out of the question. "She said bluntly. "I'm currently waiting for someone. And I couldn't leave the island without him, you know?" Venti added, as she twirled her twin tails rapidly.

"Who? Your boyfriend?" the hero smirked, causing her to turn crimson red. "No! My...student. I was given orders that I'll train him for the next few months. But I haven't seen a sign of him anywhere!" she stomped her feet on the ground out of sheer frustration.

**Huh? Could it be... **the hero thought as his eyes widened out of disbelief. **No, that can't be possible. **"Say, why are you so excited anyway? It's not like there's something cool about doing something so tiresome, right?" the hero asked out loud. "No, it's not like that. Sure, teaching must be a drag, but my master told me that the boy that I'm about to teach has felt the same experiences like me." She responded calmly.

"And I thought I was the only one who lost my humanity." She mumbled about. "Huh?" "Never mind." She cutted him off, taking the meat off with her bare hands, causing the flames to die off instantly.

"No, tell me what you mean by "Lost my humanity"?" he persisted, looking into her eyes intently, causing her to blush. "Look." She pointed out to her hand, which was covered by a smoky, golden aura.

"I'm not what you think I am." She said, bluntly. "So please, don't freak out."

* * *

><p>Mordred stood there amidst the rubble, looking very much unfazed by being tricked into being sealed in Suzuka's monochrome trap. His eyes widened, as his mouth curled into a large smile.<p>

"What's so funny?" Suzuka asked, clutching one of her blades tightly. "Ashamed that you aren't the brightest light in the sky?" she added, insulting him a little. "No, nothing's funny, Gozen. I'm just too excited to feel such overwhelming magical essence. I'll have to thank you for that." The white-haired demon quickly launched his extra appendage towards her, causing her to dodge the upcoming projectile with ease.

Using her demonic heritage, a black ninja star formed on her right hand, only to use such a weapon to thrust it towards the fiend. With the ebony black blade spinning towards him, the demon caught the star with ease, causing his hand to leak out dark blood.

**So she's using the 4****th**** Demon King's famed dark arsenal technique against me. Anyhow, I've managed to find a way to tolerate its power for a short period of time, but it won't hold it much longer. **Mordred thought as he threw the spinning blade towards the eastern demon, only for her to dodge it quickly. Suzuka quickly advanced towards him with lightning fast speed, unsheathing her swords all at once, all pointed towards him.

Mordred managed to deflect the various types of blades with his dark appendages, only for her to persist yet again, slicing the elongated limbs one by one. The force of their strikes burst throughout the rotting and drained area, smashing the gate beside them almost instantly.

With their gazes tethered to each other, the two demons continued their skirmish with clashes of weapons and limbs. With the air thickening around them, the jagged blade managed to pierce through Mordred's neck, causing him to cough off blood once more. **What? I clearly didn't see such an attack. She was clearly occupied with attacking me relentlessly. How did she even strike my neck by surprise?** The demon thought, as his eyes widened.

"You know, there's a clear difference between Eastern Demons and Nightospheric Demons." The regal demon blurted out, as time turned slowly around them. "We're created first."

With one smashing blow, Mordred flew across the area, only to land towards the piles of rotting bricks, burying him within it. Emerging from the melting materials, the white-haired demon quickly plunged his tentacles towards her, only to be blocked by one of her divine blades. "Purge what is evil, cleanse what isn't good. Grant thy justice, blade of the gods!" the eastern demon bellowed, as the weapon shone a luster shade of light blue.

"No, not this time, fry!" the weight of Mordred's appendage increased drastically, causing her to slowly sink beneath the colourless earth. "Obliterate what defies you, Shotsuren!" Suzuka yelled, causing the blade to respond with an overwhelming sonic boom.

The appendage withered away with the blinding light that shone upon the ancient weapon's tips. **Damn it! She's using the Divina break skill. Being a being of pure darkness, there's nothing I can do to stop it from actually threatening my life. **The demon thought as the light slowly moved towards his form.

**Oh well, I guess it can't be helped then. **

The light suddenly vanished into thin air, perplexing the eastern demon to no avail. **Hm, that can't be. Once Shotsuren's light runs, it wouldn't stop until the darkness is expelled. What could go wrong? Unless...**

"Ah, so you've found it out. As expected, Suzuka. You've always had a knack with every skill of all sorts. So this time, I'll have to unleash my trump card." the demon called out confidently.

"You're using that skill now? Can't you tell that it has a drastic effect on the space time continuum?" the eastern demon warned, bracing herself for an eminent attack. "I am very much aware. And that is what makes me desire to make things anew. To make things go _my _way." He explained.

"I know that there's more to that for you to go completely mad to chase such an impossible dream." The eastern demon blurted out. "Even you...couldn't understand my goals. Having the power to undo anything from its existence...makes me technically a god."

* * *

><p><strong>First off, I'll have to apologize for the long wait. Since I was visiting some relatives, I didn't have enough time to upload this sooner due to the various activities. Heck, I even got a headache for sleeping too late. <strong>

**Anyways, here's the preview for the next chapter. **

**Next on Castles of Glass Chapter 21 – **

With the knowledge of Mordred's obscure ability, Suzuka tries to find a way to counter attack such a powerful being before he eventually undoes everything and jumbles up the space time continuum. With Finn realizing that his master was actually one year younger than him, questions linger within his mind about the girl's past and the origin of her powers


	21. Chapter 21 - Raid

**Chapter 21 – Raid**

"A god?..." Suzuka's eyes widened, utterly confounded by the words he just uttered. "You can't be serious!"

Mordred's sinister eyes narrowed, fixated towards her armored form. "Unfortunately...I am." His mouth curled into a smile. "Aren't you scared?" he asked, as he puffed up the dirt off his blood stained clothes. Suddenly, the eastern demon felt a rather human-like chill down her demonic spine. Fear: it was an odd feeling for her. There was never a time for her to feel vulnerable aside from this very moment.

"Scared?" she asked, as a streak of cold sweat ran through her pale cheek. "No, I don't fear the gods. And I don't certainly fear someone in the likes of you." She taunted, chuckling a little. "That's great, demon princess. I didn't want to fight a coward in the first place." He flicked his forehead forcefully, confusing her.

"Shut your mouth, hell boy." She blurted out as an insult, leaving him completely silenced for a couple of seconds. "You're still a vile demon, no matter how much you try to make yourself divine." With the concrete ground trembling once again, Mordred knew something was a little bit off. No, he felt something...completely different than anything else he had encountered.

The fresh stench of heavy rain filled the area, as a heavenly aura engulfed the eastern demon's scorned armor. "Do you know... how continents are made?" she asked emotionlessly. "Don't stall me, woman." Mordred responded with a deathly quick strike of one of his pitch black appendages. With the tip of the tentacle grazing her left cheek, it quickly dissolved into thin air as soon as it passed through the heavenly substance.

**I knew it, another Divina Break Spell. Anyhow, I could just wait till the interval ends, then I could just quickly drain her of her heavenly form. **He smirked at the thought. "What's wrong?" Suzuka asked, "Can't you undo this?" **Wait, is she testing my power? **The white-haired demon thought, gritting his teeth out of his frustration. "I'm sure as hell can!" he yelled, as numerous, unholy appendages sprouted out of his stained back. "Let me show you...my divine power!" he bellowed, as the various limbs stretched out towards the eastern demon, engulfing the celestial light surrounding her.

"Divine." She blurted out, copying a fragment of his empty words. "How ironic."

Suddenly, shapeless beams of light emerged from the numerous, clawing hands and paws concealing her in all her glory. With every fiber of the demonic limbs dissolving, succumbing to the light, the sound of roaring thunder boomed throughout the decomposing paper town. It began to rain hardly within the cloudless sphere, which was something impossible to do within the artificial environment they're in.

**Rain...could it be...? **Mordred pondered a bit, as the heavy drops of water rained down upon his face. "So, you've figured it out. I'm saying something likewise to what you've said to me just a few moments ago." She smirked a little, as her body began to soak wet. "Amenonuhoko, the blade that created continents out of a drop of rain." The demon explained rather calmly, masking his repulsed emotions on the sight of such a powerful weapon. "Honestly, there are various types of legendary weapons that can conjure up storms such as this. But your question was the main factor that made me guess what's right." The demon added sternly. "Yeah. It's the blade that'll cleave through your repulsive heart." Suzuka replied as she clutched the gigantic claymore tightly with a single arm. "If you can. In a few more minutes, you'll be rendered weaponless." Mordred threatened, as he conjured up a dark, dull looking blade, which sprouted out of the cold, wet grounds.

Familiar to the foul-looking blade, the eastern demon's eyes widened, as she swung the gigantic blade frantically towards him in a flash. The two weapons clashed, causing the wet and windy atmosphere to be filled with the clangs of enchanted metal. Despite of the blade's powerful strikes, the rather frail-looking weapon which Mordred holds refused to bend or crack. Instead, it continued to withstand the colossal blows of its adversary.

Suzuka was fast. Her moves were graceful, her strikes were flawless, the determination written in her eyes was overwhelming, and the will to right the wrong couldn't be matched at this moment. **Why isn't he using that ability? Judging by the effects, he could undo something critical at this moment. Anyhow, I'll just have to keep him busy. **Those thoughts raced through her mind.

**But, what in the world does he mean by "in a few minutes"? **

After taking a quick glance at Mordred's forehead, a peculiar seal was etched on it, causing the latter to curl up a Mona Lisa-esque smile. "Undo..." The white-haired demon blurted out, as the ancient-looking mark glowed a luster shade of blue. "...Amenonuhoko!"

In a flash, the once gallant blade vanished into the rain, distracting the eastern demon to no avail. "Damn it!" she cursed, as the thin blade's tips grazed through her face. Clutching her fists, she plunged them down towards the dark prince's belly, sending him flying throughout the seemingly endless downpour. In a fit of rage, she charged towards him, with her fists engulfed with the same holy substance which danced around her body.

Like that of thunder, every inch of Mordred's bones cracked, as Suzuka's fists plunged towards him mercilessly. **That's fine. **The demon thought as he succumbed to the thrashing pain. **I'll just undo it anyway. **Fighting back, the dark prince quickly recovered in an abrupt rate, grabbing her fists tightly with his pitch black appendages, only to be burned off quickly. Refusing to surrender, a dark and foul aura emanated from his body.

Repulsed, Suzuka quickly threw him to the ground, causing the shattered grounds to cause slight tremors throughout the area. **I can't summon Amenonuhoko now, so I'll have to rely on the strengths of my blades. Daitsuren, Shotsuren, Kenmyoren, I'll leave everything to you...plunge this pseudo-god into the depths of the Nightosphere! **The eastern demon thought as the three sacred blades pointed towards his semi-buried form.

With the blades just inches closer from his back, for some reason, it didn't penetrate him. The eastern demon pushed harder as the blades refused to do their jobs. Something invisible was blocking it, and that confounds her, since invisibility would certainly could be penetrated by the sacred metal composing the weapon's lethal points. "You're too persistent." Mordred blurted out without a glint of emotion present within his voice. "And you're not yet ready...to face me." His voice changed into a more sinister form, shocking her a little. "Suzuka...Gozen, have you forgotten me from the past? Am I just a memory to you now?" the demon's eyes widened, fixating his gaze towards her. Suzuka now knew, that the person who was talking to her right now, isn't the opponent she fought a few minutes ago, but a rather powerful spiritual entity invading his struggling husk.

Flashes of burning cities and broken bodies rushed through her fading mind, remembering one highlight that actually brought up her cause: The death of Sakanoue, her dearly beloved. The vivid picture of his fit body being stabbed to death by an unknown evil god was something she couldn't bear to remember.

**An evil...god!? **Her eyes flared furiously. "Why...why do you have to play with my memories, Mordred!?" tears fell from her light pink eyes, as she continued her attempt to stab the now possessed dark prince. "I told you..." the voice grew deeper. "I'm not the masochistic lunatic you've just saw. And you can't stab me, no matter how hard you try." He continued to stare into her eyes.

"Who are you!?" she screamed as she interrogated. "One of the things you've killed...one of the things you've loathed...and one of those things you've **failed** to kill." The air around them grew thicker than ever, causing one of the blades to snap like a frail twig. Caught with surprise, the eastern demon flinched a little, as Mordred's possessed body quickly dispersed into the air like that of black dust.

**I wouldn't want you to kill off my host so early, Suzuka. **The voice echoed throughout the rainy area as the dust started to fade along with the broken buildings around the area. **This isn't the last of him, though. He's merely a pupa on his growth into becoming an actual god, a god to start the Ragnarok and end the multiple realms of this universe for good. **The voice added. **Prepare yourself, the rain is just beginning.**

As the smoke completely faded with the echoing voice, Suzuka was completely dumbfounded by what had just happened, dropping all her blades and kneeling amongst the blackened crater. Bitter tears fell through her cheeks, with the heavenly aura vanishing quickly, leaving her intricate, bamboo plated armour all cracked up and bruised. The monochrome ceiling cracked, shattered into pieces, exposing the clear, blue skies and the warm radiating rays of the sun mixing in with the Amenonuhoko's artificial rain.

The sight was too beautiful for her to bear. Will she be able to protect such a beautiful yet cruel world from her adversaries? "Why I wanted to protect this vast sphere of fading and decaying life? Simple...I made a promise to Sakanoue. A promise to protect the future for our children and our children's children. That's why I'm very much motivated to do things into such an extent...and you evil gods may take everything from me, but you'll never take away my passion for this world!" she yelled to the sky, as her furious cries echoed throughout the shattering sphere just above the real HQ, which was littering with the corpses Mordred killed before the trap taken place.

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><p>"Oh, it broke, Caleb." Shuten Douji pointed out in a childish tone, tugging the Clockwork gently with her chest. <strong>Lady Suzuka...please, be safe.<strong> Caleb thought as he closed his eyes for a second. "Yeah, looks like the enemy escaped, cancelling the Zero Hour." He spoke out loud, pretty much distracted by Douji's flirtatious moves. "Zero Hour? What the heck is that?" she asked cluelessly. "It's the destruction of a threat within the sphere, so if the threat stays inside the orb for a long period of time, the replica inside it will dissolve, so as the threat and the user." The ancient engineer explained.

"Oh, I see. By the way, Caleb. Could we go out on a date after this?" she asked frantically, all flushed up. "We have no time for outings. We'll have to make sure that everyone's safe." Caleb explained yet again. "And also, track the enemy." He added. "Man! Hey, did you already transport the boy already?" Douji asked again, being the inquisitive girl she is.

"Yeah, I hope his friends won't freak out once they found out he's missing." he said unemotionally. "And your words are so repetitive, it's annoying." He glared at her, causing her to puff up her cheeks like an angry toddler. "I-I can't help it! It's not like I'm trying to be cute or anything!" "Focus on the mission, Douji."

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><p>With the golden flames dancing on the tip of her palm, the hero was dazzled by its beauty. After a moment of awkward silence, Venti has decided to break the ice. "Why...aren't you running?" she asked softly, a tad bit embarrassed in fact.<p>

"Why would I?" he continued to munch on the handful of meat he's holding. "It's beautiful." He added, causing her to blush a little. "T-thank you..." she tilted her head below, looking at the ground. Her crimson red hair trickled and shone through the bonfire's light, matching her fair skin which looked like it never bathed in the sun's unkind light.

"No one's ever said those things to me before, so it's overwhelming really. Pardon me for acting really stupid." She apologized politely, as she looked at his calm face once more. **Well, I guess you're the only one around here, so I guess I'm the first. And what I really meant to say that I was complimenting the fire, but hey, I'll look like a douche if I'll go say it directly to her face. **He thought as he nodded in response.

"It's fine. It's normal to act that way if you're all flattered and stuff. It's really cute." **Man, what am I saying? **"Really? Well, if you find me cute and all, I won't blame you. But flattery won't get you anywhere, and if those things are just excuses to get more of that meat I hunted, I'll just kick you hard in the buns until you poop rainbows." She threatened, trying to make a straight face. **Scary! **Finn thought as he took a munch on the meat once more.

"Anyhow, I couldn't read minds, and you seem like a nice guy, so you're in the safe zone right now." She crossed her arms and smirked. "Buuut, I don't know what to do with you yet. I saved you, and you're my latest companion who looks a bit human like me, so you'd probably make a good bodyguard." She added, setting her thumb below her chin.

"A bodyguard?" He felt his sweat drop. **Well, she looks a bit frail as a princess, but most of the princesses I know are pretty much stronger than how they look, and plus she even hunted that thing that almost killed me. **"Well, I guess all things would be repaid when I'll agree to be your personal maid- I mean, bodyguard." Finn smiled a little. "A maid..." she pondered a bit, causing Finn to kneel down. "Anything but that!" he pleaded. "Okay, okay, I'm cool if you're not interested." She yawned a bit as she slumped herself against the hollow log she's sitting on. **Venti, you shouldn't waste this opportunity. A Labyrinth cannot be raided alone.** The voice in her head advised her.

"Oh, cool. I'll just sleep then." The hero said as he quickly rolled to the side facing away from her. "Wait! I mean, just listen. Do you know why I was waiting for that student of mine?" she asked. "Yeah? You already told me that a while ago." He replied nervously. "Oh, other than that, there's one more reason." "What?" he asked groggily. "A Raid." She uttered. "Excuse me?" "A Raid. R.A.I.D. Raid." She pronounced specifically.

"So, you want me to join a raid with you?" he asked. "Yeah!" she responded rather eagerly. "See that huge pillar overlooking the eastern mountains of the isle?" she pointed out excitedly. "Yeah?" he responded rather cluelessly. "That's a Labyrinth. It's like a dungeon filled with monsters and treasures. And they say if you reach the top of a Labyrinth, you'll be able to control and defeat your fears and find out who you really are." She defined the place so emotionally.

"So, you wanna get rich?" Finn smirked a little, causing her cheeks to flush out. "Sorta. We could share half the price." She said it in the cheapest way, like that of a crab's. "I'm not in it for the money." He stated. "Really?" Venti cupped her ear to the side like a deaf, old man. "Really."

"So, you're not going?" She asked yet again, with a glint of sadness studded in her tone. "I'm going. It's the least I can do for you." The young lad gave out a large smile. **Well, I wouldn't want to tell her that I'm her student yet. That would be so... **"Awkward." Venti blurted out. "Huh?" the young lad asked her. "It's awkward for you to say it's the least you can do for me. It's actually the greatest you can do for me, really." She leaned closer to him, leaving her collar hanging, exposing her barely covered chest.

"Okay?" he blurted out nervously. "What are you staring at?" she asked. "N-nothing." He said as he looked into her eyes. "Great, if you don't wanna poop out rainbows, that is." She leaned back, returning to the log she rested on. "Get some sleep dude, you'll need it, since we'll be moving out tomorrow morning." The petite lass stretched.

**There's something...strange in that girl.** He thought as he began to rest on the pile of leaves he rested on while he's unconscious. Suddenly, fragments of unclaimed memories suddenly hit him. Chains wrapping a divine being, feathers resting amongst a pool of dead bodies, Finn didn't even remember those events, so perhaps those memories weren't his, but Venti's for some valid reason. **No, there's something...really off.**

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><p><strong>I'll have to say, thank you for the wait. Since it's summer, I'll have plenty of time brainstorming about the next chapter. Anyhow, here's the preview for the next chapter.<strong>

**Next on Castles of Glass Chapter 22 – **

After knowing a fragment of truth about Mordred's existence, Suzuka has set off to heed an alliance between the divided kingdoms around Ooo to prepare for war against the thriving monster that is the evil gods of age old, set out to destroy and restart everything into their diabolical advantages. Meanwhile, Marceline and Jake has set off to find Finn after finding out about his sudden disappearance. "Finn, I don't know where the heck you are, but I'll definitely find you no matter what."


	22. Chapter 22 - A Gamble

**Chapter 22 – A Gamble**

A plague, a medical event that concerns the death of probably millions of the remaining life forms in the planet, finally ravaged upon the once vibrant and peaceful, post-apocalyptic land of Ooo. Death's decrepit, aged ivory hands beckon upon the souls of those afflicted by its curse, and even the most skilled and experienced doctors hailing from the most prestigious kingdoms couldn't even prevent him from claiming his physically corrupted bounty.

It had been a mere seven days since the catastrophic epidemic started, and the land had barely lost its hope for a struggling cure.

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><p><p>

**Seven Days Ago – The Abandoned Temple - Altar**

"I've failed to kill it." Pathos growled, with his morbidly intricate blade still planted over the bloodstained walls of the ancient cavern, filled with bizarre runic inscriptions and the various cracks and scars that make them illegible. "Fool." An aged, dry voice echoed within the primordial and stuffy room, catching the horseman's attention. "He's within your grasp, and you've just let him escape. The All Seer would not be pleased." The voice added, with a hint of annoyance and anger writhing within it.

"Who says that I'm in it for the All Seer's sake?" the apocalyptic warrior blurted out as he smirked. "I'm in it...to fulfill other things." He added as he clutched his fists tightly, with the still vivid images of that horrific and gory battle still etched within his mind. "And what good would it do?" the voice responded with a glint of annoyance present in his tone. "You're just going to end this vast world so abruptly in the process…Horseman." It hissed, with the slithering noise to be followed by the sound of dragging skin.

"Show yourself." He demanded sternly, in an authoritative tone a likened to that of a general. "Oh, how cliché. I speak, and then you command me to reveal my rather "gassy" exterior. Please, do something more…unpredictable for a change." The voice cackled a bit, annoying the horseman further more.

"You seem rather amused of the recent events. Have you been watching me all the way?" he asked politely. "Yes, I was. And oh, no, I'm actually doing this on my own accord." The voice confirmed, constantly shifting its tone into a more feminine nature, confounding the horseman. "A war will wage on soon, as soon as this upcoming plague is over, that is." It added, stepping into the light, revealing a pitch black mound of heavy smoke.

The shapeless, odorless mound quickly shaped itself into that of a deathly pale, yet strikingly beautiful young woman covered in a severely aged, filthy brown cloak. Her eyes were colored in a shade of dull grey, with her mouth showing no emotion, despite of her rather cheerful demeanor within the shadows. As the horseman briefly studied her rather slightly frail yet slender structure, he could notice her arm clutching upon something hollow, and curved. **A mask?** He thought.

"I am known as the All Seer's envoy. But little did that sanity-ridden hybrid know about my true intentions. I am formally known as Lilith, and I know most of this world's deep and locked secrets." The girl spoke telepathically, since her face didn't match the rather jolly mood of her voice, and it's almost like she was possessed.

"I know where this is going. I'm certainly not going to work with you." He stated, detaching the gigantic weapon from the solid, corrupted grounds. "You bear great hatred against the Shades, do you, Drake?" her eyes continued to stare beyond his widened, flaming ones. Dumbfounded, the warrior couldn't find the appropriate words to say, leaving him completely silent.

"I can help you make that happen." She whispered, causing him to jerk off. "And I can bring them back without any catches… or perhaps…help you exact your true revenge and hatred…on your queen."

At that moment, a smile of insanity gripped him tightly, with his body filled with an overwhelming sensation…to kill. "Come with me." He beckoned, with his eyes displaying and odd expression of desire. "You've just earned my trust."

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><p><p>

**The World Organization's Headquarters – Room 709 – Princess Bubblegum's Quarters**

"T-this can't be…" the princess panicked, with her hands quaking as she held the worn out piece of paper from side to side. If it weren't for the terribly diseased candy hawk that flew all the way from the refugee camp to inform her about the plague, she wouldn't have any knowledge about her people's outcries, from a currently leaderless and falling kingdom.

The hawk slowly closed its eyes, flailing and twitching around like that of a beheaded cockroach as it finally descends into the netherworld, leaving its lifeless body to rest on top of the broad, wooden table. "A-a…P-Plague? Without me in charge? Oh, things couldn't get much worse. Now I'll have to make that antidote again! But, I'll have to monitor the Flame Princess' mental and physical stability…but I couldn't just neglect my people's outcries, wouldn't I? Ugh!" she flipped the table violently, causing the files of scribbled research paper to scatter around the place. So much for the princess' confusion, it might affect her overall health.

"I am outraged!" she screamed on top of her sugar-coated lungs, being unable to cover up her true emotions. "Why didn't they inform me soon enough? Heck, why am I wasting away here, in this place, abandoning my people?" the princess rambled about, with her angered and gentle voice echoing around the stuffy, flash-adorned room. "Great. Now I'm just talking to myself." She pouted, crossing her arms after twitching her round, frameless spectacles.

"Well, you sound like a total nutjob back there." A voice called out, causing the princess to turn her head to the direction where the sound came from. It was Marceline, hanging upside down on the ceiling, just like that of a bat, the mammal of her liking. "Just leave me alone, Marceline." She said sternly.

"What? I've just gotten here, and then you'll kick me out all of the sudden? You know how hard it is to find your room? It took me a couple of hours in my bat form." the vampire sounded pretty serious, causing the princess to blush a little, due to the thought of her willing to waste her well-earned energy to get there. "So, you've came all this way just to see me?" the princess asked nervously. "Yes…and no. And in fact, I need you to do me a little favor, a pretty important one." The vampire responded in a rather calm and innocent demeanor, thus causing the princess to take her seriously this time.

"And what is it this time?" she asked yet again, with her ears ready to absorb the words the vampire has yet to say. "Could you lend me one of those bottles that could store in magic?" The vampire blurted out sternly, with her eyes filled with a mild sense of determination. As her pale finger pointed out to the brown, elongated flask, which sat amidst the clumping piles of books, the princess felt a glint of reluctance growing within her.

"Do you have any idea what that flask is?" she asked plainly. "A tool that stores magic inside?" the vampire shrugged causelessly, causing the royal to sigh deeply. "It's a Magi Flask. It's a high graded tool forged by the great King Solomon himself. It sucks in any magical matter within its radius, and it activates automatically without any warning." The princess explained thoroughly. "Why would you want to get a hold of such an artifact? You could even get yourself hurt."

"Relax." The vampire blurted out, maintaining her cool and calm expression. "It's just a one term use, I'll return it soon after." She added, taking the item with great haste before passing through the white, wooden doors like that of a wandering ghost. "Marceline, wait!" the princess called out as she quickly stood up, scuffling up amongst the scrambled piles of papers and flasks below her.

**Darn it.** The royal thought as she quickly swung the door open, unveiling an empty hallway studded with a row of generic, wooden doors. **She didn't even tell me about her intentions. And if she screws up, there is a slim chance for her to get sucked in, due to her massive magical essence. **The princess felt a trail of thick, cold sweat leaking out of her rosy cheek. **I'll have to retrieve the flask before it's too late.**

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><p><p>

"Jake." Marceline called out to the yellow canine, who was preparing some soup for the worn out hero back in his quarters. "Oh, 'sup Marcy. Could you talk to me later, I'm in the middle of making the most delicious broth of Finn. He's hungry." The dog responded, causing the vampire to go all "shifty eyed".

"Riiight. Well, about that…" the vampire paused for a bit as she took a quick glance at the various ingredients lying on the kitchen table. "…Could you explain why is there is a half empty bottle of Japanese wine sitting next to a handful of habaneros?" she asked, being all suspicious. "Well, Finn said he needed an extra kick, so I couldn't blame him. My little brother's turning into a man!" he rejoiced as a large, oversized tear leaked out of his large, circular eyes.

"Yeah, but the thing is, the Finn I know wouldn't try to drink under aged." She said sternly, as she took a second glance at the hefty bottle of Asian liquor. "Well, crops grow, Marcy. And you can't prevent them from doing so, just like all boys his age." The dog shrugged, as he displayed a rather proud expression on his thick, stretchy face. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I think something fishy is going on here..." The vampire said, narrowing her eyes into thin slits.

"What're you talking about, Marcy?" the dog asked as he continued to stir the thick, boiling broth. "Are you saying that there's something wrong with Finn?" he added, raising his voice a little. "Yes." She blurted out bluntly. "He's just not the same dweeb I know. And plus, he's been acting pretty weird lately." The vampire added melancholically. "He probably has his reasons. I think it's best for you to let him be, you know? Just to cool him down." The dog continued to stir slowly. "If that's the case, can I pay him a visit? You know, just to help him kill some time? I won't bite." She asked in the most polite way possible.

"Sure. Knock yourself out, if you know what I mean." The dog grinned comically, causing the pale vampire to go all crimson red. "Whatever, Jake. I'm going in." the flustered vampire said as she quickly turned the knob, only to be followed by a rather loud creak.

Sure enough, the young lad was there; sitting on the edge of the unkept bed, with his soulless eyes fixated to the bright, glass windows just a few meters away from him. The room was a mess, actually. The lampshade looked absolutely untouched; the floor was carved in unreadable runic symbols and numbers, and the cold, ceramic mug of coffee he used to drink on was left on the floor, with the stench of fermented coffee beans scattering throughout the room. "Finn?" Marceline called out, causing the young lad to turn around, with an animal-like reaction.

"Oh, hi." The hero greeted as he quickly reverted his attention back to the shimmering light. "The view outside looks so amusing, don't you think?" he asked in a distracted kind of tone, unnerving her a bit. "Right. Finn, we need to talk." The vampire said nervously. "About what particular stuff? I'm in the mood for a pinch of comedy, if you ask me." The hero shrugged plainly.

"Well, speaking of comedy, do you happen to know this joke?" the vampire asked, in a less comical tone. "Great, lay it on me, princess." He said cheerfully. **Princess? **She thought, causing a lot of questions to pop out in her mind. "I'm not a princess, Finn. You know that." She faked a laugh. "Oh, is that so? Well…are you perhaps a maid of some sort?" he asked cluelessly, causing a glint of annoyance to spark within her.

"I'm a queen." She muttered. "Oh, I see. Just tell me the joke, your highness." The young lad chuckled nervously, with small droplets of miniature sweat leaking out of his face. "You don't address me that way." She smirked a little, unnerving the young hero further more. "Then w-what do I address you then?" his voice cracked, signifying his vulnerability.

"You know what? You really are a bad liar, for a clone." She smiled sadistically, exposing her sharp, elongated fangs, causing the helpless boy to squeal like that of a sissy. "W-what are you talking about? Uh…uh…" the clone stammered, with his arms wriggling uncontrollably. "Face it. If you were the real Finn, you would know my name. Now, I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself. Say my name." she commanded, shocking the clone to no avail.

"Hah, as If I would get that wrong!" the clone tried to build up his confidence. "Of course…It's M…ma…" He babbled like that of a baby saying its first words, and it was pretty disturbing to say the least. "Mary?" he finally blurted out. "Oh, you've got it wrong, punk." She said, pulling out the Magi Flask out of her pocket, which suddenly glowed in a luster blue shine. "I think it likes you." The vampire blurted out after taking a quick look at the ancient flask.

**My energy…it's been slowly sucked in! **The clone thought, with his skin slowly drying. **And if this keeps up, the plan wouldn't work, and Lady Shuten would pay the price for my misdeeds!** "Okay!" the clone yelled in defeat, with the bits of his skin glowing dimly. "Okay, I'm a clone, bingo, you've got me." He said as he raised his hands, signifying his utter submission. "Now, since I've already told you what I am, could you please put that thing away?" the clone began to point at the glowing bottle.

"And what If I don't?" a large smile began to curl on her light pink lips, as she continued to stare at the bottle for a couple of seconds. "Aw, c'mon. Are you expecting me to do something for an exchange? That's pathetic." The clone said as he began to lazily plop himself against the scuffled bed, anticipating his bitter end. "Well, the reason why you're still alive right now is that I still have some use of you." The vampire said as she suddenly placed the ancient container on top of the dusty cabinet on her right.

"Now tell me, what the hell happened to Finn?" she asked sternly, causing the once fear-stricken clone to grin slightly. "Oh? I see you have some feelings for the boy. Well, I couldn't see why he didn't manage to go out with you." This remark caused the vampire to blush yet again, due to the thought. "Answer my question, clone." She demanded, with a sense of authority expressed in her tone. "If you want to live, that is." She added.

"Very well. If it is the answer you want, then it is the answer you'll get. Now, listen closely." The clone said as he managed to lean closer to her ear, with his voice gradually changing. The vampire anticipated his words, with her crimson red eyes widening. "**I don't know.**" The rascal whispered, with a crooked smile creasing in his mouth after spurting out those meaningless words.

Little did he know that sarcasm is what makes this vampire queen tick. Her eyes narrowed in rage, with her now heated pale hands grabbing unto the ancient artifact that stood dormant for the past few seconds. "You had your chance." She blurted out angrily. "And you failed." The vampire added in a fit of frustration.

"Bravo!" A cheerful voice suddenly echoed throughout the room, causing the partially demonic royal to flinch, halting her rather hostile action. "You've scared Two really good, and for that, I offer you a glass of warm milk!" the voice began to giggle like that of a child, unnerving and annoying the vampire to no avail. "Lady Shuten!" the clone wept hysterically out of his relief, as his body began to harden due the rash circumstances he's in.

"Two?" the vampire muttered, facing the rather occupied space behind her. "Yep! That's his name!" the childish voice responded rather gleefully, without any signs of anger or relief.

Shuten Douji sat there, leaning her tired, slender back against the dusty walls, carrying a large jug of milk in her right hand. "Who are you?" the vampire asked, being rather confounded by the recent turn of events. "Oh, don't you remember me? I'm the one that saved your friend back then." The demon answered in an innocent, sinless demeanor. "You don't look familiar. I haven't seen a rather non-intimidating, busty demon around these parts recently." The vampire said, just for the sake of embarrassing her verbally.

"Non-intimidating? Busty?! Hah, you're just jealous about my beauty, aren't you? They all are!" the demon blushed heavily, covering her chest with her arms while faking a smile. "Whatever. I'm not here to take a chat with a stranger like you. I'm here to get some valid answers from this impostor." The vampire quickly shifted her attention to paralyzed clone, with his skin slowly withering.

"Ah, so you're wasting your time interrogating Two? What a pity, you've even hurt the poor thing." The demon suddenly stood up after taking a quick chug on the creamy beverage, staring at the frozen copy. "Trust me, you wouldn't gain anything. Clones are just there to take someone else's place, and they have no need to know about the plan whatsoever." Douji said, with the expression on her face suddenly shifting from embarrassed, to serious. "But on the bright side, I happen to know the valid answers to your questions." She added in a teasing tone.

"So, you must be this thing's master. He pretty weak and detectable, if you ask me." The vampire blurted out calmly, leaving the demon unfazed. "The plan was so sudden, so I have to make one as quickly as possible. And this is what came out, and it is the first time I've actually made a clone that's only physically identical to the original." The demon smirked comically.

"Actually, I'm not interested in your clone-making shenanigans. I'm only interested in the answers you're about to tell me. Now answer this, what happened to Finn the Human?" the vampire asked, with the ancient flask being pointed towards her. "Oh, that question can only be answered by one sentence and one sentence only." The demon paused for a moment, just for the fruitless purpose of stalling her. "He was sent in for training in the second dimension, without the consent of his dear friends." She finally blurted out.

"The second…dimension? Is that why you didn't bat an eye when you told me, just because it's completely out of reach?" the vampire asked desperately. "Bingo!" the demon responded cheerfully as she snapped her fingers loudly. "And for the higher up's sake, I'm not telling you how to get there." She said jokingly.

"Would it kill them for me to see him? There's something very important I needed to tell him." The vampire asked. "Nope, of course it wouldn't kill them. But, you'll just be in his way." The childish demon said as she began to walk to the door, carrying the clone with her like that of a stiff surfboard. "And he wouldn't like that, won't he?"

"No, but I'd rather be a nuisance to him than to leave him alone in a place possibly filled with a bunch of dangerous monsters." The vampire said as she pulled the dusty white curtain off its rack, causing the metallic pole to tumble and clatter beneath her. "Oh, so where are you off too now?" the demon asked cluelessly, as the vampire quickly cloaked herself with the thin and delicate shroud of woven linen. "I'm…going outside."

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><p><p>

"Ah, c'mon!" A royal groaned at the scene, which was a surprisingly common sight to behold in the now fully occupied atrium, with the loud clamoring and complaints of the royal audience echoing throughout the spacious room. "We could barely even produce some crops, and instead of offering us some assistance, you'll just come up on stage and ask us to prepare for what? A war?!" The irritated Breakfast Princess ranted, causing the rest of the royals to spurt out their side of the story.

"Our warriors are too sick to even fight. And with a plague now crippling our kingdoms, siding with one another wouldn't increase our chances with winning against whatever we're up against, have you had that in mind, miss?" the war princess added, with a statement and question which was oddly much more intelligent than the rest of the princess' childish reasons.

And for some reason, Suzuka remained calm, with her eyes shut tightly, as her hands clutched onto the sides of the broad podium, with the dented microphone already touching her lips. "Milady." Caleb, who was already by her side, called out, adjusting his rather oversized goggles. "If this keeps up, this once formal meeting would result into a riot. You should speak out, before we lose control of the crowd. A crowd filled with important people, that is." The clockwork whispered silently, with his eyes tethered to the swarming crowd before them.

"**Enough!**" She yelled out of her frustration, with her voice booming throughout the atrium, silencing the crowd. "I've heard a streaming collection of your complaints, your rants and your pieces of public opinion, but I have enough of your stubbornness to cooperate. I thought I've called in a group of sophisticated people, not a horde of impatient animals." The eastern demon said as she clutched the microphone tightly, with the tips of her incredibly long hair standing like that of goose bumps.

"How could we even cooperate with an epidemic ruining the lands, and plus, there's no sign of an enemy approaching from all corners of the globe, to be precise." A random princess blurted out, with her light, gentle voice occupying the now silent area. "From what I've heard from most of you, your infected citizens have a bunch of unidentified black markings etched on their skin, am I right, princess?" the demon asked politely, trying to keep her cool.

"If you say it that way, yes, they do. So, could you please tell us what's the importance of such markings?" the princess replied, in behalf of the fear-stricken crowd. "Our Alchemy sector has been recovering the bodies for the past few days, and the virus didn't stop multiplying, despite of their fruitless efforts. Even our most skilled physicians couldn't identify the main cause of such a disease. But the real story starts at our Magic sector…" after leaving a trail of unfinished words, another hand raised up high amongst the sea of people.

"So, you're saying that it's absolutely incurable?" a voice asked amongst the crowd. "If you let me finish, you'll be able to know the answer. Our skilled mages have determined the meaning of the various markings." The crowd continued to listen intently. "It is actually an inscription, written in ancient runic, which could be only translated into the English word, "Cripple" or "Disable". So, meaning to say…"

"That the epidemic is actually the work of an ancient and powerful form of magic." This remark has caused the crowd to clamor in shock, with the sound of worried gasps filling the room once more. "Then? Medicines couldn't do a thing?" one royal asked curiously, with a hint of utter desperation expressed within him. "Are we cursed?" said another, only to be followed by a dozen other questions.

"Royals of Ooo, do not waver at circumstances such as this? In the flames of war, you would be able to experience things much more badly than this. Yes, this land, or heck, the whole planet is cursed. It is in fact, it is doomed to face utter destruction and the oblivion of its inhabitants." She said sternly, while maintaining her eye contact and control of the crowd. "I have faced against a fearsome foe, prior to these ludacris days of hunger and death, and I believe, he's the one responsible for this madness." The demon stated. "And he has the power to undo your existence in an instant." Her words had finally stunned the crowd.

"Excuse me." A smooth, gentle voice called out politely. "According to your brief description, your foe has the powers a likened to that of an Evil God." the crowed looked at the boy curiously. "An Evil God? What the lump is that? Gods are supposed to be, like, holy?" LSP muttered, with her rather loud, masculine voice blending in with the crowd's noises. "Not all of them. There is always an antithesis for anything good." He stated, wearing a shrewd, crooked smile on his slender face.

"What do you want, Salem?" Suzuka called out, tethering her gaze towards the mysterious young boy. "You remembered, Suzuka. And you might as well remember my promise to return to you for some assistance. Well, I'm here, goofing around with these colorful bastards." Salem pointed out with his rather oversized needle, something he probably used as a weapon.

"So, tell me what you need." He added persistently. "I'm saying this to all of you." The demon responded, clutching onto the ringing microphone tightly. "I need all of you, to do your part as an important piece of history, to join hands on defeating those vile beings that have yet to be awakened." She said, as she planted one of her broken swords on the podium with a thud. "You're our only hope on winning back our future."

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**A/N – It has been a lot of days since I've posted the 21st chapter on , and I'll have to apologize for the long wait to all of my loyal readers out there. I've been fighting a rather severe writer's block and I couldn't come up with anything interesting. I've decided to rest for a few days. Well, since I've finally overcame it, I'm finally back in business. **

Next on Castles of Glass Chapter 23 –

As the young hero had finally gotten a hang of living on a highly dangerous environment, flashes of Venti's obscure memories rain down on him like cold rain, causing him to get more and more unnerved by her presence. Will he be able to spit out the truth about him being her sent disciple?


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